That Which Shall Not Be Photographed
The downtown office core harbors a cornucopia of uncanny urban spaces. The other day I happened to pass by the one shown above and couldn’t resist busting out the Panasonic DMC-TZ3, thinking I’d probably want to write something about how these grand entry plazas are usually such a stupid waste of space. But after I came down the escalator, out came scurrying the youngest, friendliest looking security guard I have ever seen, who proceeded to tell me, while seemingly holding back a giggle, that he had to ask me not to take photos of the building. By that time I already had all I wanted, so even though I was totally put off by his request I said OK, not wanting to risk any escalation that might have led to a demand for my memory card.
But then I couldn’t help asking why. And again, all the time with that shit-eating grin, the kid paused, and then said he couldn’t tell me why. So I said, “you don’t even know why?” and then he seemed stumped, and finally mumbled something about how he used to be in the military and um, this is different he guessed, but no, he really didn’t know why. I wish I had asked him if he knew what year it was when 9/11 happened.