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Comment by sharkweek | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if the security guards probably notice but are more interested in avoiding confrontation. I'd hate harassing someone who probably won't cause any trouble, and having to potentially get into an argument, where they'll likely belittle my position and make me feel like a shitty person for doing my job.

I was a bank teller during college, and would be occasionally berated by people when I'd ask to check their ID when they were withdrawing money. I always asked if they'd prefer I let anyone trying to take money out of their account do so w/o checking photo ID. One guy swore he was going to get me fired for not letting him take money out of his account because he forgot his wallet at his desk.

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Is that not the entire purpose of having the security guard though? If they are uncomfortable doing their job maybe they need to find a new one.

The point was that it's not the entire purpose of having the security guard. The building management wants to "provide security" to its tenants as a feature they are willing to pay for. The tenants, for their part, want "security" but not the inconvenience of being "harrassed" by the guards when they forget their purse or whatever.

Guards know this too, and given the choice between letting someone through who you are pretty sure is legitimate and potentially starting a fight which will generate a complaint, they'll "do the best they can" and just wave people through.

Motivations interact in funny ways, and the parameters aren't like software: they're hidden and surprising.

Not for a shared building guard who works for a property company. They are there to keep rifraff and salesmen out.

Look at government and large corporate entities for how to address this. Visitor conference rooms are on the ground floor or away from the office environment. There’s a receptionist who controls access to the employee area, and identification is captured and associated with a staffer for both signin and signout.

I was annoyed that security people are low in agreeableness, until I realized that's exactly the point.

Someone knows their Big-Five! :D

This. I had a client where the security guard actually raised his voice at me (I was trying to break the rules).

I found out later they’re given total immunity from offending someone so they have no fear of doing their job.

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