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Comment by juliangmp | Hacker News Reader

Yet another example of "if you you wear the right outfit you can get away with anything"

No one suspects a guy in a high vis vest to be just some guy

There are a few of these sorts of tricks that can render you effectively invisible. I became fascinated by them a lifetime ago when I was a janitor (back when janitors carried a huge ring of keys on them):

If you look scruffy-ish, carry a large ring of keys on your hip, walk fast as if you know exactly where you're going and are pissed off that you have to go there, then you could walk around anywhere without being challenged. Most people won't even register that they saw you.

Allegedly if you carry a ladder they let you in anywhere.

Depends on the slope.

Good guy with a ladder.

Gulp! With recent events, this needs additional retrospection.

If that guy was wearing black and maybe some "Police" sign (even home-made) on him, not many would've given him a second notice...

Unlikely to change. Neither is open carry. Mass shootings are just part of the furniture.

> Mass shootings are just part of the furniture.

In the USA, not the rest of the world. Making that distinction because the high visibility vest trick will also work in most other (western?) countries.

@latexr It will also work in non-western countries too... as long as you're the obvious skin color or race. I doubt a white man in Nigeria with a high-viz vest is not gonna attract everyone's attention :)))))))

I wonder if a clipboard or a ladder would work better with the bouncers at a club.

Don't the bouncers usually have the clipboards? And wouldn't they be aware of other people of clipboard status by face/name? seeing a rogue clipboard might prompt questions and credential requests. Clipboards on strangers make me curious, ladders make me glad someone else called to have whatever it is fixed.

A club is one of the few places where this strategy won't work, unless there's an emergency (which the bouncers would obviously know about) the only people who would show up are from the sound and light company whom the bouncers already know.

Fire inspector because they are responsible for doing spot checks on crowd sizes. I've been in a club before that was shut down because the fire inspector came in and counted it to be over capacity. The only problem with this plan, beside any kind of penalties for impersonating an emergency official, is the bouncer might get suspicious when he sees you on the dance floor with a drink in your hand.

Always keep a crew shirt handy, never know when you are going to need to sneak into an event!

I wonder if posing as health inspector or liquor board might work.

At a club you need jeans and a crew-looking t-shirt. Bonus points for ear plugs.

I used to help compile articles and layouts of a local Newspaper while in School/College (mid-late 1990s). They got me a “PRESS” ID Card complete with photos to make it easy to get into Press houses, and other Newspaper offices. That ID helped me get in anywhere in our town. This is a town with lots of guns, strict security after dark and stuffs like that.

The guys who work for the city are also just some guys as well. No-one is special and the only thing keeping the world together is the kindness of strangers. So be more kind.

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