Leniency

The Ghetto (Donny Hathaway)

Yesterday's word-of-the-day from dictionary.reference.com made me pause and think, because not only was it a word that I've been searching for days, but also because it's an eerily keen commentary of the present society.

recidivism \rih-SID-uh-viz-uhm\, noun:
A tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern of behavior; especially, a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits.

I am aware that absolute safety is fictional and that in every second a new risk is born. I also know that not everyone can defend against criminals, and that's why there are people trained, hired and paid to protect the public. Unfortunately, one of the many conditions that comes to mind when I think of the word "recidivism" is our country's security guards.

Whether or not the Glorietta explosion was caused by an accident or a bomb does not matter for security guards. In the next few days they will definitely be more uptight. They should, as while I'm not castigating their negligence as the root of this tragedy, I can't say they did their jobs well either.

What's funny about them is how quickly they devolve back to leniency. October 19, 2007 wasn't the first time Glorietta exploded; bombs detonated here few years ago. Whenever this happens, guards start getting very on edge, they'd thoroughly inspect everyone's packages and they'd bring along bomb-sniffing dogs. Give it a couple of months and they're back to lax - dipping drumsticks, chatting while "inspecting", touching the outside of pockets (or sometimes touching dubiously close to your privates), or flat-out ignoring you. Honestly, a preschooler could teach a bomber how to bypass these morons.

As an example, I'm not saying the condominium where I live is as important as Glorietta, but just last Sunday (and this was just two days after the Glorietta) I came home only to find that the building guards have all fallen asleep. With all the media disseminating reports of Glorietta, you would think that they'd be less lazy for a few days. But they aren't, which is sad, because if this is any indication of the state Makati security guards will fall back to, then all the casualties (such as this) will be in vain.

Please don't let this tragedy repeat.