Security at Malls

You know the security guards at the entrances to mall parking lots? Most of them stand at the entrance with a mirror attached to a long stick and use it to look under your car. I constantly wonder if they know what they are looking for. I mean I assume they are looking for something that shouldn’t be there, like a bomb or something. But, do they know what EVERY car looks like underneath, irrespective of the make and model of the car? Are they trained in what to look for, what not to look for, what is normal, what is abnormal?

The other day at a mall, one guard was “coaching” a few others about how to look in the mirror. He held the mirror near the front of our car and looked into it, while four other “junior” guards peered from over his shoulder. Then, he nodded with a satisfied smile that prompted the others to do the same, and off we went to park the car. That scene was seriously hilarious because it didn’t seem like the others knew what they were supposed to be looking at. Yet, their heads went bobbing up and down with a smile that said “I’m not sure what it is…but if this guy thinks it looks okay, it must be.” Did the “senior” know what he was looking for/at? I’m not sure. His smile and attitude was one of so much self-importance that I couldn’t make out the real reason for it.

Speaking of security at malls, another thing comes to my mind. I feel several malls discriminate between the shoppers on foot and the ones that drive into their parking lots. If you walk into a mall, you will be stopped, frisked by a metal detector and have your bags opened and scrutinized by the guards at the entrance. However, if you drive into the parking lot, more often than not, only your car is checked (with the mirror of course, and sometimes they peep into the boot too). You can freely walk into the mall from the basement parking without anyone checking your bag. I always wonder what the logic behind that is? Maybe they think “walkers” will carry dangerous things in their bags and “wheelers” will carry them in their cars?