| For those of you thinking of taking up a career in | | | | how the guard keeps THOSE THREE from |
| security work, here's a little slice of life from my | | | | fighting!" Quite a few of my calls were for |
| own experience: | | | | breaking up fights, especially when alcohol was |
| I worked security jobs as my first career out of | | | | involved. |
| high school. This enabled me to work my way | | | | If I successfully got the pool and courtyard |
| through higher education and keep an income | | | | dumped out and the banquets to a peaceful |
| stream coming. Security work is normally the | | | | conclusion, then it was time to watch the bar at |
| best choice for that kind of situation; you certainly | | | | the restaurant close at 2AM. The barkeep needed |
| don't want menial labor, it pays better than most | | | | me on hand in case anybody got rowdy. They |
| entry-level unskilled jobs, and if you get the right | | | | might get rowdy if we had to call a cab for them |
| post you can bring your homework with you. | | | | to go home when they'd rather not leave the car |
| Most security supervisors won't care if you bring | | | | behind, but usually things went smoothly and I |
| books and homework with you - at least they | | | | hardly even found people passed out in the |
| know you aren't going to sleep on the job! | | | | bushes. |
| But the post that sticks out in my memory as | | | | Then the actual business of patrolling the hotel |
| not being the one you can bring homework to | | | | through the night began. If I was lucky, we had a |
| was the hotel post. I pulled this stint for the | | | | pretty sedate group of guests whose primary |
| better part of a year, before they rotated me | | | | motivation was to actually sleep at night. If not, I |
| out to a more sedate position. The hotel was | | | | might deal with noisy guests that everybody |
| known throughout the security company as their | | | | complained about, rooms full of kids jumping out |
| "action post". Boy, was it ever! | | | | their third story window to bound on the chain link |
| First off, it was only two blocks from Disneyland | | | | enclosed yard below, unrequited lovers and the |
| in California, so we had guests year-round. Next, it | | | | disputes they dragged out into the lobby, and the |
| had a formal restaurant attached, which had been | | | | occasional college kegger. Quite a few times, we |
| one of the more happening spots in the metro | | | | had drug dealers, who would send one person to |
| Orange County area until the current owners of | | | | book a room, then pull around back, unload their |
| the chain bought it out. Now the restaurant was | | | | product, and do business for the city all night. |
| more of a sports bar and grill. Next, we had | | | | They were a little hard to miss with people |
| banquet/ball rooms, which were booked | | | | coming and going all night and the lobby |
| throughout the year for conventions, receptions, | | | | switchboard showing a phone call every second at |
| group events, and just about everything from | | | | 3AM. |
| high school proms to weddings. Now on top of | | | | At about 5:30AM the checkouts began. These |
| that, add 1000 rooms in three buildings, plus a pool | | | | were people eager to get out and catch their |
| and jacuzzi. | | | | flight out of town, back home, or to the next |
| There was never a quiet moment. My first duty | | | | stop. This little flurry of activity would be dealt |
| on arriving on the graveyard shift was to close | | | | with by the desk staff, and I primarily helped by |
| the pool at 10 PM. The pool was usually full of | | | | keeping out of the way... and rounding up the last |
| some group like three busloads of tourists who | | | | of the night's action. By the way, the hotel staff |
| just got here half an hour ago from Arizona | | | | was always around, so I had plenty of "back-up", |
| (summer) or Minnesota (winter) and were just | | | | and in fact at least as far as my co-workers |
| getting a full-scale party going, when out comes | | | | were concerned, they were wonderful people. |
| the guard to kick them all out and lock it up. If I | | | | I was actually on a first-name basis with the city |
| was running for a popularity contest, that blew | | | | police, so often did I have to call them to deal |
| my chances right there, and the night was just | | | | with the more troublesome guests. In the course |
| starting. Diplomatically convincing 50 people to | | | | of my time there, I busted five dope rings, foiled |
| abandon the pool was an exercise in crowd | | | | two attempted burglaries, caught three homeless |
| control which I won every night. We had to do | | | | people sneaking onto the property (one of whom |
| this, because the noise would echo between the | | | | was in the jacuzzi at 3AM in full view of the |
| buildings and if we didn't close the pool we'd have | | | | windows looking down on the courtyard), busted |
| 500 guests complaining that they couldn't sleep! | | | | half a dozen underage drinking parties, and |
| Then there might be an event or three going on | | | | interrupted countless couples making out in their |
| in the three banquet rooms. These might be just | | | | car in our expansive, dark, cozy parking lot, |
| winding down, but the event coordinators seemed | | | | where I pointed out that maybe what they were |
| to get a perverse thrill out of creatively booking | | | | doing wouldn't look so good to families with kids |
| the different groups in the banquet rooms so | | | | coming home from Disneyland. |
| they'd come out in the hallway and clash. A Muslim | | | | No, this isn't a typical security job at all. Most night |
| wedding in Banquet room 1, a teen Christian | | | | watch jobs involve a sleepy factory complex |
| Awana club event in Banquet room 2, and a goth | | | | where your toughest problem is keeping awake |
| punk/alternative lifestyle singles dance in Banquet | | | | and your most active time is when you run a |
| 3, for instance. I pictured the event coordinators | | | | punch clock around to make rounds. But this is |
| cackling and rubbing their hands in glee, "Let's see | | | | just one example to show... how wild it gets! |