Passed Out Security Guards

Anyone that goes to Temple University has seen these security guard stands all over campus/ a couple of blocks off campus. I vividly remember during an open house that I came to while I was still in high school that these security stations were a major selling point; it was a point that my tour guide made sure that we were all very well aware of: "Temple University takes their student's safety extremely seriously."

Well, that's great for Temple University and all, but what my tour guide failed to mention was that maybe the guard in the stand couldn't care less about your safety. I was walking home from a friend's house late the other night, and this particular stand caught my eye. It was not because the security guard was doing something ridiculously crazy, rather, he was doing nothing at all. His head was cradled on his shoulder, eyes shut, whatever. I walked back and forth several times in front of the stand to see if it was just his way of keeping a close eye on things, but needless to say, this particular security guard was sound asleep.

Now I am not aware of the fate of this security man. For all I know, he very well could have been dead. If that was the case, then the rest of this is kind of rendered null and void. But let's, for argument's sake, speculate that he was, in fact, asleep on the job. Is this justifiable?

If I had to rate the job of a security guard on a boring scale from 1-10, with 10 being the most boring, I would give it a 12. These people really got the short end of the stick. Imagine: you have to sit awake in a stand at god-fosaken hours (I'm talking like 3-6), with NO HEAT (or if you're reading this in the heart of summer, NO AC aside from a crummy little fan), and you're not allowed to listen to music or read anything to pass the time (How do I know this? Have you ever seen a security guard with earbuds in or a book in hand? No. Would any normal person willingly sit in these little shanties with absolutely nothing to do? Please...).

However, I digress. The boring-ness of this job does not change the fact that what a security guard does is very important. They... sit there... and if they see anything, they call the cops... even though after they call the cops it'll probably be too late for them to do anything... so... wait, what is it these people do exactly? Sure, they watch out for any sort of shady business, but for what purpose? Is it the mere presence of a probable watchful eye that keeps some shady business from occurring? If that's the case, then regardless of whether or not a security guard is asleep, there's still that "potential eye on things" factor. The person who might commit some sort of crime may not be aware of whether or not a security guard is awake or not, but they're still wary to do anything because of the mere presence of a security force. Even if they were aware of a security guard catching some z's, how many people would think, "Oh man! Now's my chance to get away with something!"?

In the grand scheme of things, there are bigger fish to fry than worrying about a security guard being asleep on the job. The guard could have had a long day working at their other job, a rough night due to some sort of argument, the list is endless. If something extremely serious were to happen, such as some sort of shooting, I'm sure that the sudden GUN SHOT would wake a guy up! Any loud out-of-the-ordinary noise would startle the guard and he'll go about his business. It's not much different from how a wide-awake security guard would handle a situation like that. More than likely, a wide awake security guard is day-dreaming or zoning out to some extent, and then something happens that causes them to pay attention and do their job. Same can be said for passed-out security guards. They're just initially in different states of consciousness is what it boils down to. This doesn't change the outcome of the crime that is committed in front of them.

So is it justifiable for this particular security guard, or any security guard, to fall asleep while he's supposed to be keeping an eye on things. ABSOLUTELY JUSTIFIABLE. Now this is where I get mugged in front of a sleeping security guard...

VERDICT: JUSTIFIABLE