I am now officially happy Hecht's is going out of business. I had a run in last night with security at Crabtree Valley Mall that was prompted by Hecht's.I know I'm not supposed to take pictures inside stores, but I didn't figure a camera-phone picture of the Hecht's escalator well would be a huge deal. Of course I was wrong.
The stupid part is that they didn't even have the decency to tell me themselves. They sent two mall security guards after me to chastise me and they made me to delete my camera contents in front of them. They weren't even really sure why they were supposed to stop me beyond a simple reading of the rules. I left disgusted and embarassed.
Today, I called Hecht's and they hid behind their policies, as if a having the mall's rent-a-cops do their dirty work and chase a person for photography made any sense. The only sense I got was when I called the mall itself, which I had no pictures of, I might add, and the mall manager apologized on behalf of all involved.
My problem isn't as much with the policy as it is with the enforcement. I have friends that take full sized digital cameras with them to the mall, take loads of pictures, and never get stopped by security. I know I was targeted and I told them so.
I have decided to not spend a single dime in Hecht's at Crabtree Valley until they change over to Macy's (and fire all those nutjobs) as a protest against customer harassment.
Sorry you went through that. Back on my 2004 Beach Trip, I went to a gift shop called Callahan's in Calabash, NC, and they have a sign at their entrance that says "No Camera's Allowed". So I had to stop video tapeing and put my video camera back in my car.
ReplyDeleteThanks Billy :-)
ReplyDeleteI think these rules are unfair, and after 9/11 the enforcement of them is over the top.
My friend Gloria and I were at the playspace at The Commons in Federal Way, watching our children play, and we were both taking pictures of them, when a security guard came up and told Gloria, but not me, that she had to stop taking pictures because of security. Gloria, whose husband is a lawyer, asked if there were rules posted somewhere that said photography wasn't allowed and the guard said no. I thought maybe he just didn't see me taking pictures, but then, a couple weeks later I was there, and the security guard was patrolling, and people were taking pictures and he didn't say anything. Then I realized that I am white, and Gloria isn't, and wondered if that is why she was singled out. I hope it isn't, but I can't say for sure.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the playspace in Federal Way, it definately sounds like your friend was singled out for her race.
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that I wasn't targeted for being black, but then again, the reception I got form Hecht's seemed a lot like situations I was in before that were linked to my race.
Selective enforcement of unposted rules, even outside of race, is more prevalent than even I thought. Honestly, what harm does a photograph of a child playing do to the material assets of a mall?
The vast majority of people have no need to plot the damge of shopping centers or any public or semi-private space, so innocent photgraphy shouldn't land a person in serious trouble.
There was a big to-do about some security personnel at the locks of a ship canal in my town, confiscating the camera of a black guy taking pictures of what is a huge tourist spot. Homeland security, you know. Blow up the locks and where would all those jihad pleasure-boaters spend opening day of boating season? I think he was a photography student, because after this one hit the press, the entire photography department set up tripods and started snapping away in a pre-arranged coup on a busy summer Saturday.
ReplyDeleteGood guerrilla fun.
I need to dipatch a legion of camera-phone yielding black mall fans onto Crabtree Valley. I'll bet if I did the promotion right, I could get five or six nationwide to participate :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the lengths that half-assed security personael go to prove they have cahones never cease to amaze me.