The BP in Me
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Every once in a while, when I'm working on the last stages of a book, I consider skipping the final check of the running heads. After all, they've been through the copyeditor, QC'ed by the typesetter, and double-checked by the proofreader. What are the chances that there's something wrong with them now? Eventually I give in, check them one last time, and think, "Ohhh . . . I'm so glad I checked these."
It's human nature to take shortcuts. And it's human nature to get lax when things have been going fine for a while. It's why people taking blood pressure medicine stop taking it once their blood pressure improves, and people with mental illness do the same. Our airports were just as unsafe on September 10, 2001, as they were on September 12. But what do you think would have happened in the FAA had said, "Our airport security is lax, and we're going to shut down for four days to upgrade"? People would have had a fit. And then there's the member of the San Francisco city council who pulled someone he knew from the security line to get into City Hall, escorted him so he could bypass the metal detector, and then was shot dead by that very same person once inside.
Procedures are boring, and regulation seems like overkill. Until they're not.
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Every once in a while, when I'm working on the last stages of a book, I consider skipping the final check of the running heads. After all, they've been through the copyeditor, QC'ed by the typesetter, and double-checked by the proofreader. What are the chances that there's something wrong with them now? Eventually I give in, check them one last time, and think, "Ohhh . . . I'm so glad I checked these."
It's human nature to take shortcuts. And it's human nature to get lax when things have been going fine for a while. It's why people taking blood pressure medicine stop taking it once their blood pressure improves, and people with mental illness do the same. Our airports were just as unsafe on September 10, 2001, as they were on September 12. But what do you think would have happened in the FAA had said, "Our airport security is lax, and we're going to shut down for four days to upgrade"? People would have had a fit. And then there's the member of the San Francisco city council who pulled someone he knew from the security line to get into City Hall, escorted him so he could bypass the metal detector, and then was shot dead by that very same person once inside.
Procedures are boring, and regulation seems like overkill. Until they're not.
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posted by Anonymous at
8:56 PM
2 Comments:
and this is why regulations must be codified into law. this is why trustworthy government is essential. this is why i think blanketly braying about Big Government is asinine.
--ranting lady
The asinine bray . . . nice!
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