Security...it's a good thing

J and I went to Federal Way this Labor Day weekend to visit my mom, sister and step-dad. It was a really nice weekend. It was low-key, but fun. We did a little shopping with my sister T, went to dinner with my mom, and went to the Emerald Queen Casino to see my step-dad in action. For the last eight months, he's been working two jobs. Monday through Friday and one weekend a month, he works as an alarm technician. He works for a company that installs and maintains security and fire alarms.


On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, you can find him at the EQC working security. He's talked a lot about his job for a long time now. He really enjoys it. He's pretty funny, actually. When he talks, he talks in code...security code. He'll say things like, "Badge 233 and I were working the floor, when we got a call on our radios that said there was a Code 4 in progress." Of course, I'm making those numbers up entirely, but you get the idea. He really seems to enjoy this job. In fact, I asked him if both jobs paid the same, would he rather work security or as an alarm technician. I was surprised when he answered immediately without thinking, "Security."

It was nice to finally see him in action, and see the places he talks about. Usually, he works the night club or the different events, but sometimes he works the casino floor. When we went to see him on Saturday night, we surprised him by just showing up. The last time we were in town, J and I were supposed to go visit him at work, but since he works nights, we fell asleep and didn't make it. This time, I didn't want to disappoint him again, so we thought we wouldn't tell him we were coming. Then, if we fell asleep again, it wouldn't matter.


When we got to the EQC, we found out he was working at the night club, and he was upstairs on "bathroom duty." For those of you who know my step-dad, you'll know that this is rather ironic. At the night club, there are no bathrooms inside the actual club area. You have to leave the club to use the facilities, so they post a security guard at the door to monitor the comings and goings of club guests. That's where we found him. Sitting on a chair near the door. It's no wonder he loves that job! In fact, when I asked him what "stations" he liked best at the EQC, his top favorites were the bathroom, the elevator (again, sitting on a chair near the elevator monitoring the comings and goings of patrons), and the exit (if you guessed it involved sitting in a chair monitoring the comings and goings of patrons, you were right!).


He was surprised and pleased to see us, and told us he'd come find us on his break. We got to hang out with him for just a few minutes, but it was neat to see him in action...well, sort of.

While I was at my mom's, I briefly skimmed through her drawer of pictures, looking for some new ones to scan. I only had about five minutes to look before we left, so I didn't find very many. I did, however, find photographic proof that John was destined to work security at the EQC.