As I walk the not so mean streets of Guangzhou back home in China, I noticed many a building - public and private - being guarded by security. Not sure why that is actually needed because due to the massive video surveillance apparatus in China, nobody is stupid enough to commit physical crimes. But hey, who am I to get in the way of job creation, even if said jobs are kind of meaningless.
What does look wrong is that most of these security guards are staring at their phones! A clear indication that their jobs are of zero consequence. Any worthy criminal would easily pass on by without them noticing.
If I were leadership walking by I would immediately take these building security guards to task. Even if the whole charade is just for show, you still got to make it look convincing. The person responsible for safeguarding an area should absolutely be barred from doing anything but have constant awareness of their surroundings. You’d better know immediately if so much as bird lands on a second story window sill. Perhaps more importantly: you’re not getting paid to watch Douyin videos.
Imagine if the guards at Buckingham Palace - surely purely for ceremony, were staring at the phones, instead of standing at absolute attention. Right to the Australian penal colony, right away.
I would say the same for hired security at American malls. I’ve seen too many guards at our local Target store busy with their phones, rather than paying attention. This is not and should not be acceptable in any country on this planet.
Coming through.