The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is attempting to help customers on the city’s buses and underground trains stay alert to terrorist threats by creating advertising posters with creative dictionary definitions of made-up words urging commuters to keep an eye out for danger. Two of the made up words are:
“Sumpnspicious,” – a play on the slang pronunciation of “something suspicious” – is defined as “n. (noun) unattended package or odd, unusual behavior that is reported to a bus driver, train operator … station manager or Metro Police.”
“PlanBdextrous: … adj. (adjective) able to plan an alternate route home in case Metro is inaccessible due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Could our Washington area travelors continue to update us with new words as they are posted?
Hmmmm. Not sure what to make of this. It sounds good in theory, “Be vigilant”. But in reality, isn’t it saying “Be paranoid!!”. Taxpayer dollars at work, paying some ad agency to come up with this stuff.
Good security in these times isn’t so much a warning to “beware” but to “be aware.” In this case, if you pass thru a commuter train station every day, you should notice the things you see every day. Then, when something out of the ordinary happens or is present, it stands out. THAT is what the authorities want reported.
Tom, I’m worried that all this “better safe than sorry” stuff is counter productive. Each time one of these things is reported, it causes huge disruptions, and in almost all cases it turns out to be nothing. This is what happens when Chicken Little meets the boy who cried wolf.
Too many false alarms, and people stop caring. We throw money and manpower at what we think is a real threat, and the terrorists sit back watching and laughing at us while we chase our tails.
Personally, I would rather be standing next to a bomb when it went off, completely oblivious, than have to endure listening to the media and the government in the aftermath. Just because there haven’t been any terrorist attacks inside the US since 9/11, does not mean that the system is working.
Maybe the problem is that Americans have come to expect their government protect and / or rescue them from every possible hazzard. The proof that this is an unrealistic belief has a name. KATRINA. The really scary part is, Katrina was predicted days in advance. 9/11 hit without warning, though some say that the signs were missed.
Anyway, I’m still not sure whether I agree with what the DC Transit Athourity is trying to do with this campaign.
The problem is that today, most of the things being reported are things that happen all the time. People didn’t notice them before because they were in their own little worlds, oblivious to everything arond them. Sort of a “If I don’t see it, it doesn’t matter” attitude. That security saying I started out my last reply with, is one I learned in the Air Force back in the '70’s. Sound bytes and simple slogans aren’t going to do any good unless the public receives the type awareness training we received, to go along with it. Observe, see what is normal, and report anything else. The first two steps eliminate a LOT of the false reports in the third step.
Anything that can be done to enhance vigilance, as long as it is legal, is fine with me. Complacency is an unfortunate reality in the America of the 21st century. Pehaps not so for those who have been victimized - as recently experienced in London.
It isn’t our call to say how the WashDC Metro spends its money. If they are trying (and I emphasize - trying) to protect the riders, what’s the harm? Good grief, how nit picky can we get.
Sorry, but I’m in favor of doing whatever it takes, for as often as it takes to keep the traveling public aware of the sorry eventualities of the world we live in.