The tale of the $6.00 Security Guard

Once, I worked as a guard for a company that had a Government contract.  It was really easy, but the pay was lousy.   I made $6.00 per hour.  Every day, I’d get the paper when I got off and look for another job.  The guys I worked with thought I was crazy. 

             Late night, we’d stand around and talk.  They were basically happy making peasant wages.  Not me, every night, I’d tell them I was getting out of here the first chance I got. 

            Guys would ask me, “Where you going to go and make more money than this working security?” 

             I’d tell them I was worth more than six bucks; I was going to find a job for at least twice that.  They’d all laugh and say, “There are no $12.00 jobs in security,” and that I should stop dreaming and get back to work.

            Then one morning, just about the same time I got into bed after the night shift, the company I worked for called.  The personnel lady informed me that my security clearance papers hadn’t been filled out properly and they wanted me to come in right then and correct them so they could conduct the background check.

            Now, I’m not a fool; I knew that this clearance was going to cost them at least ten thousand dollars and they wanted to pay me six fucking dollars.  I told the lady that there wasn’t a whole lot I’d do for six dollars, and getting out of bed to drive thirty minutes to fill out a form was one of the things I would not do.  I hung up the phone.

            When I got back to work that night, the supervisor came to me and inquired about the forms.  I told him the same thing I’d told the lady on the phone.  Then the asshole asked me why I had to be so belligerent.  At that moment, I gave my two weeks’ notice. 

              Later, we were outside having our normal talk, and all the other officers again told me there were no twelve dollar jobs, and that the company we worked for was a good company, and that I should go fill out the form and stay. 

               I did my two weeks and told them all to take care; I was going to find me a good paying security job. 

              The next day, I landed a job for $13.00!  I worked for a couple of months and, one day, I was on my way home from work when I decided to stop in and check on my old friends.  I pulled up and they all came out and asked how things were going. 

               I explained how I had landed a new job and what it paid.  They all got excited and I told them that there were no more thirteen dollar jobs, I got the last one.  Before I left, I also informed them I was waiting on my weapons permit and that I was in line for another job that paid eighteen dollars an hour.  They almost went into shock.  I laughed all the way home.

               Several months later, after I had started working my new job, I dropped by to check on them again.  This time, I was driving a shiny new 300ZX.  I pulled up and they didn’t have a clue who the fuck I was.  They all stood there looking to see who was in the car.

           I got out and they almost fainted.  I told them about my latest job and its eighteen dollar pay, and they almost shit.  They wanted to know how they could get a position at the new place. “Sorry,” I told them, “they have no more eighteen dollar positions.  I got the last one.” 

            But, before I left, I couldn’t help but explain to them about the new position I had accepted.  I’d taken a position overseas that paid a whopping seventy thousand dollars!  They couldn’t believe it. 

            The moral to this story is, if you feel like six bucks is all you’re worth, then six dollars is all you’ll ever get.

“Observe and Report” Book Trailer

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“When asked how did I created such an interesting book about Security, I simply tell people… I took the approach of creating a car wreck. Everyone looks as they pass by (rubbernecking), to recreate this effect for Security I removed the mundane from the job and let the officers tell about the exciting and interesting events of their profession. Events that contain humor, drama, excitement, horror and humility. The readers of my book love this, short to the point stories that keep you entertained. Most readers say that once they pick this book up they simply cannot put it down.” M. Oden

Starting out as a Security Guard

My first guard job, when I came out of the Corps, didn’t last long.  I was hired to work for a company in LA, and they sent me to guard a junk yard.  
 I was just out of the Corps, so, I was still a little bit eaten up.  Regardless of the uniform I was wearing, I had to be all spit and polished.  I arrived at the junk yard and reported to the owner.  Man, was he an asshole.  But, he was a former Marine, like me, and a Viet Nam vet to boot. 
 He took me on a quick tour of the compound and made sure that I paid special attention to his prized possessions.  He had a small area that had nothing but old beat up Cadillac’s; there must have been thirty of them.  He told me that he had people coming at night, stripping those Caddies, and my job was to make sure it didn’t happen again.
 When everyone was gone from the lot and the night got late, it was a good opportunity to evaluate my situation.  A month ago, I was a Marine Corps sniper; now, I was sitting in the middle of a junkyard working as a security guard.  Damn!   
 I was depressed; here I was sitting in my car, and, hell, it looked right at home in this salvage yard.  I had a .38 revolver but only three rounds of ammo.  The radio the company issued me might or might not work in the event of an emergency.  My flashlight stopped working shortly after I left home!   
 Somewhere in the middle of feeling sorry for myself, I fucking fall asleep.  Can you believe it, falling asleep, my first night on the job?  When I woke up, I heard the owner screaming something about those fucking Caddies!  Hell, I knew I was fired, so I started my rusted out car and went home.
 Later that day, while I was going through the want ads again, the guard company called me and said that the owner wasn’t as mad as I thought and they wanted me to go back to the junkyard again. 
  Shit, the classified section of the newspaper didn’t have a whole lot, so I figured I’d better do a good job this time or I might have to go work at McDonalds.  When I arrived, the owner pretty much blew me off.  Which was ok; I was lucky to be working. 
 This time, I stayed out of my car and made rounds of the compound like I was on patrol in the Corps.  But by 1:00 am, I was tired.  Then, I saw what appeared to be movement in the corner of my eye.  Yeah, I thought I saw something; it was the shadows of three guys as they were climbing under the fence.  They hadn’t seen me, so, I moved into the shadows to get the jump on them.  I got to within about twenty feet of them and with my trusty .38 drawn, I shouted “FREEZE!”  They froze alright, but not the two pit bulls they had with them.  Those two dogs chased my ass through the compound and I was screaming like a bitch.  Finally, I jumped up on some crushed cars and the dogs couldn’t get to me. 
 I was on that stack of cars until daylight, but, I didn’t know if they’d left yet.  The whole night, I was trying to make contact with the guard service on the radio they’d given me.  Piece of shit didn’t work!   
 The owner walked through the lot and he was cussing about his fucking caddies being stripped and how pissed off he was.  He didn’t know that I was above him on some cars.  I jumped down right in front of him and scared the shit out of him.  Somewhere, he’d picked up my .38 that I’d dropped when the dogs chased me.  Before he could say anything, I grabbed it out of his hands and ran to my car.  This time I didn’t care if they fired me or not because I’d already made up my mind to quit!<a href=”http://www.observeandreport.net

“Observe And Report”

This blog is about the book of the same name, “Observe and Report” Behind the Scenes with Security, in Their Own Words. This is the first book about Security of it’s kind on the market today. It’s definately not another boring Security manual. This book is about true on the job stories and tales of actual security professionals.

For the first time you’ll be able to go behind the scenes and see what Security personnel do on the job. Each story is a different officer and they’ll entertain you with funny, witty, amusing, sad and sometimes tragic events from their jobs. All in the line of duty to protect life limb and property, yours!

A great book for anyone contemplating entering this amazing career field, has worked in the field or simply the curious reader whom wants to be entertained. You can order your copy by visiting  www.observeandreport.net