[Noisebridge-discuss] missing IBM model M keyboard from my shelf

[Rubin Abdi]

$0.02

At the old space, 83c, we had a front door. This door was always locked
on the outside. If someone rang the doorbell it was up to someone inside
to get up and let them in. In doing so they would meet the person. It
was great, until people didn't want to get up every 5 minutes to let
people in. Some of us started handing out keys to those who seemed smart
and would come by often. Some of us gave out keys to people we would
meet traveling and seemed smart. This system worked well, until we moved.

In another life I worked at a video game store. Anyone who's done retail
knows the rule about greeting people. You try to say hi to every single
person who comes in through the front door before they can have a chance
to look at any merchandise or get to the front counter, create dialog
with them. All this not to help them with finding whatever crap it was
that they want, but to make them understand that people working in the
shop know they're present. It's the first step in loss prevention, if
you know someone's already spotted you coming through the front door,
the chances of you stealing something drastically goes down. Think about
it the next couple of times you walk into a retail store, even the big
ones will tend to have someone right at the door to say hi to you.

We're now at a new space. None of our doors really have locks. We've got
this crazy system that buzzes people in without ever really having
someone greet them, might as well just leave the gate open 24/7. We are
a public space. You walk in, make no social connection to anyone there,
the things in the space have no ties to anyone you've met, they're up
for the picking, you take what you want, you leave.

Those of us here who've stolen goods (in a past life) know this, this is
how we think. It's harder to steal from an individual than it is to
steal from a faceless entity.

In my opinion, lockers acknowledge that some people feel there's a theft
problem at Noisebridge, and they have to keep their own personal crown
jewels in a safe, much in the same way the good liquor and cigarets are
locked inside a glass case. They know theft is going to happen, they
just don't want it to happen to those things. Stuff will still get stolen.

I feel the right solution to this is to make thieves understand what the
space is, what people are doing in the space, and that if they are here
for theft, they are stealing from good people, people active in the
space. That they're aren't simply walking into a nameless department
store, they're walking into a community space filled with people similar
to them.

My suggestion for a long while has been to get rid of the automatic buzz
in system, and to put in place locks to the door at the top of the
stairs and to door off the elevator room. Part of being in the space is
helping it out right? If people want to come in you have to let them in.
If you don't feel like letting people in, don't. The notion of gifting a
key to someone becomes more worth while again (the act is very much a
symbol outside of The Bay Area to people who still haven't been to the
space it's like gold, but since we buzz in everyone, locals don't give a
shit), because you trust that person enough to give him/her a copy. When
you hold a key, you understand who hold access to a place that's
accepted you to share it.

In my experience, fixing social problems tend to last longer and work
stronger than creating physical workaround (which are easier to break
and hack, like lockers).

But then again I've been preaching this fucking idea for so long with no
one really biting due to laziness to not really want to getup and answer
the door and a lack of social backbone to greet new people coming into a
space you share with your community, at this point I suppose that I must
be the one with the wrong ideas and concepts here and that I really
don't have any comprehension on how the mind of thief works...

-- 
Rubin
rubin at starset.net

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