Giant Aisles of Insecurity

One of the aisles in Sam's Club

Have you ever been to one of these department stores where you feel like an insignificant being in the midst of tall shelves filled with products that you can purchase? If you step into Sam's Club, Lowe's, Reasor's, Target, The Home Depot or any such similar store, you'll know exactly what I am talking about. These are designed as large warehouses divided by countless number of aisles, each marked by the different products available. Some of these stores are almost like mazes and you can imagine the exhaustion parents face when their kids have fun playing hide-and-seek! Most times these stores are as high as a two-storeyed building and the shelves on either sides of an aisle are stacked with products ranging from furniture, to kitchen appliances, to garden tools, to pet food, to clothes, to grocery, to anything under the sky! I often wonder why these shelves are as high as they are... did the designer originally imagine customers climbing up as high as two floors to pull out something they wanted to buy? One would merely be able to see what's there at the top of the shelf, so forget about climbing!

Another puzzling characteristic of such aisles is the unpleasant eeriness and insecurity one can experience within an 'empty' aisle. By 'empty' I mean an aisle that is certainly occupied by the tall and filled shelves but devoid of a single customer or store-keeper. It is not just out of mere coincidence that I have had, more than one, unpleasant approaches from men in such circumstances. There have been several incidents starting from illicit begging for money to that of sexual assaults, such as this one where Cameron Aulner, a disabled employee in Walmart, tackled a suspected child molester within Walmart. In such situations these aisles are almost similar to a silent, empty, bad lit, public street where there is a high probability for one to be mugged! The presence of doors through which the victim as well as the perpetrator would have to exit the store and surveillance cameras watching all aisles, are two physical differences from a public street. Even though surveillance cameras provide evidence for investigations, they are insufficient to help, protect or react at the moment of crime. Hence, surveillance cameras and exit doors are not insurers of security.

As a victim of such unexpected events within a department store, I was introspective and considered being humbly dressed the next time I went into one. But then I realized that, maybe, it was not my personality or actions that welcomed such approaches from anybody. I realized that the space within the 'empty' aisles was conducive to such perpetrators; the absence of people in the immediate environment encouraged them to get into their act! Well, it may not be always possible to shove a huge crowd into all of these stores everyday! But it is always possible to rearrange the layout of the shelves so as to create an illusion of surveillance. Minor changes like reducing the heights of the shelves, arranging the aisles radially to face a central cash counter, maybe using a second floor altogether than just increasing the heights of shelves, etc would increase visibility between aisles and hence discourage anybody from getting into 'their act'!

I have to admit that the availability of almost everything in one department store is such a blessing. However, the number of such unfortunate incidents is increasing everyday and they happen not out of bad luck! Ensuring security within department stores is as challenging as ensuring the same outside.

Friendly or frowning mothers!

Lady with a child stroller

Have you ever run into a lady with an adorable and cute child in a stroller? Have you tried to smile and show playful gestures to the child to get its attention? I have had many such encounters, especially when I used to travel on the Oxford Stagecoaches which are designed to accommodate the needs of wheelchair users, mothers with strollers and the like. May I mention this, my such encounters were never pleasant or remarkable and I wish I didn't have to learn my lesson the hard-way.

Children, in any culture, are innocent and are happy to get a lot of attention, even from strangers. They are usually unaware of who strangers are... they are only concerned about who plays with them and who doesn't. Parents are usually the ones who train their kids, as they grow, about the realities of 'stranger-danger'. This is one of the most important and essential lessons to be taught in this peculiar age of crime, abuse and what-not!

The Indian culture (like many other cultures) allows us to show affection, when it comes to a quiet child in a stroller or the hyper-active kid trying to sneak away when the mother/father is inattentive. This is socially acceptable and it reflects the hospitable nature of Indians. Unlike Indians, the English are more intense when it comes to a stranger showing affection to their child. I believe it is good to be alert but it's more than uncomfortable when you come across a frowning mother just because you smiled at her child! Many a times I have almost been embarrassed by the extreme stares from over-protective mothers. It is entirely different to be a victim of crime and to be a victim of fear of crime. Such behavior reflects their own insecurity in a public place. Apparently, these frowning mothers have gotten under my skin and thereafter, I've begun ignoring and stopped even looking at lovable children.

It all fades...

Curious George

Imagine what it was like when you moved to a new place. The first impressions of a place is so vital in shaping your perspective about it. It's so natural for all human beings to be as alert as 'alert' can be when they are in a new place for the first time. They tend to observe and notice not only buildings, trees, cars, people, etc. but also the minute details such as the paving on the road, clothes people wear, the games they play, the streets with or without light, people's laughter, frowns, yawns, and all other features that one can possibly grasp in. It is human tendency to become adventurous and to explore the new place. From some unknown source within ourselves we feel the urge to go through unknown territories and unclaimed routes in order to get more acquainted to our new wonderland!

I have been living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the past two months. My husband and I moved here in May, 2010. As much as the excitement was for moving, we were sensitized and stimulated to grasp in all about the new place. We became intoxicated with all the freshness the Arkansas river had to offer us when we moved into our new apartment by the Riverside Drive. We had our own adventures when we ventured out on our bikes, sometimes biking for over 12 miles a day! Our dog Roxy, not used to having flying things around her all the time, would frantically run to chase birds when we tried to walk her by the riverside.

Treasure Hunt

It really doesn't occur to us that whilst we are so engaged in such 'treasure-hunts' we are creating a mental map of this place inside our very brains, or that without any conscious effort our brain starts analyzing every bit of information that one can gather and it starts to instruct us on what's good or bad, what's safe or unsafe, what's ours or theirs! The most interesting thing about human behavior is that after a certain limit we stop exploring, we stop observing, we stop gathering any more information. Is this defined by how much time we venture out or is it defined by the amount of information we have gathered for us to sustain ourselves in this new place? Do you realize the time when the 'new' place becomes 'old' for you? When does it all stop becoming part of an adventure and then become just part of daily errands? When did Roxy stop chasing birds because she was no more delighted to see them 'fly'? Why are we programmed to lose novelty? Why does it all fade away?