===================================================================== Stuck In Traffic "Current Events, Cultural Phenomena, True Stories" Issue #17 - August 1996 Contents: Check Your Bags? As we consider proposals to make airline travel safer, it's important that we remember the associated costs. Olympic Park Terrorist Caught? David Price considers the implications if the current speculation that a security guard planted the bomb is true. Why Are These Men Running? Why running with the bulls at Spain's Festival of San Fermin has lasted 600 years. Teamwork vs. Working As A Team A lesson learned about teamwork on the tarmac. Shakespeare Goes Goth A convergence of punks, movies, gothics, chinese food, and Shakespeare in the suburbs. =================================== Current Events Check Your Bags? In the aftermath of the TWA disaster, which at this point is looking more and more like sabotage, the President has been making proposals right and left about how best to fight terrorism in the United States. One may question why the President makes these proposals now, while the country is collectively panicked rather than after we've had a chance to calm down, but it's a moot question. The proposals are out there now, legislators are debating them. So we better be thinking about them also. The proposal that seems most reasonable, and most likely to be enacted, is increasing security measures used to screen passengers and luggage at airports. The current search procedures at airports in the United States seem to be minimally prudent without being too invasive. Checked luggage is subject to being searched but in practice it rarely is. Airline workers who check baggage make a modest attempt to ensure that they only check luggage that clearly belongs to a passenger on a flight. Before entering boarding areas, everyone has to pass through metal detectors and have their carry on items scanned via X-Ray. The Clinton Administration is proposing that people be required to show picture identification when checking in for a flight and checking their luggage. The Administration is also proposing that there be a large increase in the numbers of bags that are randomly searched as a means of discouraging anyone from planting explosives in checked luggage. The searches as people enter the boarding areas of airports would also be more thorough. Finally, the administration wants to require thorough "background checks" of all people who work with airline baggage and air cargo. The strategy here is simple and straight forward. But is it worth doing? Proposals like these always have to be weighed against the inconvenience, the invasion of privacy, and the expense. Since these proposals have to be implemented by the airlines and the airport authorities, the cost of them is passed on to the travelers in increased ticket prices and airport usage fees. How much more are we willing to spend? Let's set aside the thorny issues of balancing government power against the Bill of Rights and take the government out of the picture all together for a moment. Suppose an airline started a new program in which they start hand searching every piece of luggage loaded on to the plane and carefully searching every person boarding the plane. Not only will this reduce the chances of the flights falling victim to terrorist acts to practically none, it will also reduce the risks of dangerous things being brought onto the plane, like those that cause the ValuJet crash. But their operating costs will also be much higher so their ticket prices will be higher than competing airlines. How much are you willing to pay for this added security? How much earlier are you willing to arrive at the airport? How much are you going to mind if people rummage through all your belongings? Would this airline's program give it a competitive advantage? Or would it go out of business? Ultimately these three sorts of "costs" have to be weighed against the perceived likelihood that the flight will fall victim to terrorism and/or that dangerous items will be inadvertently brought on board. In times of crisis, like after the TWA disaster and after the ValuJet crash, we have a tendency to disregard issues of cost and focus on the problem. No one wants to appear uncaring or unresponsive. If we fail at a task, it's at least not for lack of trying to address the problem. Inaction is one of the gravest sins in our society, even worse than ignorance. And while this may be one of our greatest strengths, those disregarded costs usually come back to haunt us. This country's mind boggling debt is testament to the dangers of disregarded costs. So while we discuss what needs to be done to restore our faith in the safety of air travel, it is important for us to keep in mind what we will be giving up compared to what we gain. =================================== Current Events Olympic Park Terrorist Caught? by David Price Imagine, if you will, if the current line of media speculation about the Olympic Park bombing in fact proves correct: An overweight Barney Fyffe gets fired from Mayberry and goes to work in Security for a small private school in the same county. He gets fired from the school for being "overenthusiastic" in his investigations. This bully, who wants to be a hero in the worst way, gets himself hired as part of the most ballyhooed, most expensive, highest-profile, and highest-tech security group in history. He's almost there; he's in there with the NSA, CIA, FBI, BATF, Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Police, and a host of other like-minded types from a host of other organizations. He's one of them, but he waits a week and still gets no chance to be a hero. He decides to make his own break. He plants a bomb with at least a 30-minute delay, then "spots" it, and begins to try to evacuate people from the area. He figures he's got time. An accomplice calls 911, and Barney figures the bomb squad will be there in a couple of minutes. He will have saved everybody, and will be a hero. The most ballyhooed, most expensive, highest-profile, and highest-tech security group in the world takes 10 minutes to even notify the local police department because the 911 operator can't find a street address for Centennial Olympic Park. It's only one of the largest and most publicized pieces of real estate in the entire City of Atlanta. Anybody left alive inthe city who doesn't know where it is has been in a coma for the last 3 years. When Atlanta's finest finally get the word, they dispatch a squad to a telephone booth 2 blocks away from the threatened site. It takes another 20 minutes for someone to notify the bomb squad. Nobody ever notifies the rent-a-cops inside the park. Of course, by then, the bomb has gone off 12 minutes early because Barney didn't set the timer correctly, and 2 innocent people have died. Now, help me understand this ... President Clinton is going to use this as part of his excuse to further destroy our Constitutional liberties. He's also going to ask for more of our tax money to authorize many of these same klutzes to "protect" us against one klutz who can't even make it as a Sheriff's Deputy in a small Southern county? About the Author: David Price, when he's not battling car transmissions, herding cats, selling bread, or daydreaming about airplanes, can be heard on radio station WJJC in Commerce, Georgia. He can be contacted by sending e-mail to kpmm68a@prodigy.com. =================================== Cultural Phenomena Why Are These Men Running? Each year, thousands and thousands of people from around the world gather in the town of Pamplona, Spain to celebrate the Festival of San Fermin. Like most festivals, the Festival of San Fermin is a yearly showcase for local musicians, artists, and entertainers. But mostly it's a ten day long party. Basements that are normally used for warehouses, are turned into bars to handle the crowds. They're open all night. The streets are packed, filled with people milling around. Nationalities are blurred by good will, alcohol, and lack of sleep. But the highlight of the Festival of San Fermin, the main reason people gather there is for the daily "El Encierro," the bull runs. These bull runs, made famous by Earnest Hemmingway, are a 600 year old tradition in Pamplona. Each day during the festival, the bulls that will be in the afternoon's bull fights are released from the ramparts at the edge of the city's ancient fortress walls and run through a narrow winding course through the streets of the oldest part of town and into the bull ring where they are then corralled. Groups of people, mostly young men, the "mozos," run through the narrow streets with the bulls. The course is narrow, with many sharp turns and steep grades, and at the end it funnels the bulls and runners through a narrow tunnel into the bull ring, where thousands of spectators gather to watch the mozos and the bulls enter the ring. Although there are experienced bull handlers running along with the bulls, they are completely loose and have their own free will within the confines of the course. No one knows what the bulls will or won't do. If a bull is in a foul mood, there is nothing to stop it from charging a nearby runner. Traditionalists dress in white for the bull runs and wear red ribbons and sashes to further tempt the bulls into noticing them. And even if the bulls remain relatively calm and don't charge anyone, they pose a serious threat to the runners. If runners stumble and fall over each other in the streets, the bulls aren't very likely to stand by docilely waiting for the path to clear. Bulls, as a general rule, like to build up momentum and run through whatever is in their way. Once the bulls have run their course and made it into the bull ring, specially trained bull handlers are charged with the job of corralling the bulls into pens, but usually not before the bulls get to take out their frustrations at the bewildering experience by charging the crowds milling about in the ring at least once. (Bull running tip: Carry a rolled up newspaper with you. If a bull charges you run away as fast as you can while waving the paper out to your side. Supposedly the bulls aim for the where they see the most commotion.) Though not as famous as the Pamplona bull runs, similar rituals are held in just about every Spanish town. In the town of Toro they place a bucket of wine in the center of the bullring, and only the bravest will venture into the ring with the bulls for a quick drink of wine. In the town of Carbajales they let 3 bulls out into the countryside and the people of the town have to find some way to round them up. But why? According to the Catholics of the region, Saint Fermin was martyred in Pamplona by being dragged through the streets by raging bulls. And ever since then, according to Catholic belief, the "hand of San Fermin" protects the runners from the bulls' wrath. So to the traditionalists, the Pamplona bull run is an act of faith. From that beginning, the bull runs evolved over the centuries into a rite of passage. It is said that in past centuries no self-respecting woman in Pamplona would marry a man who had never run with the bulls. Today women aren't nearly so demanding. But the annual bull runs attract thrill seekers from around the world, even women, much to the consternation of the local townspeople. An act of faith, a rite of passage, a big thrill. Like any tradition that survives 600 years, there are multiple reasons why people participate. But the element common to everyone that runs with the bulls is the desire to face danger. Whether the participants are there to test their faith, win a girl's heart, or get a big adrenaline rush, every single participant chooses to face the bulls' unpredictable, brutal nature. John Vinas has run with the bulls every year since he was 17, as he puts it, "With the running of the bulls there is an incredible amount of tension and excitement. If the bulls don't get you the crowd will. Events spin out of your control. You cannot determine the speed of the bulls or whether they are out to get you. The streets are so crowded with people, you never know if the guy in front of you will trip you up. There is a constant feeling that any miscue can cause serious injury or even death." And it has. Hardly a year goes by in which at least one person is not injured enough to be hospitalized. People have died in the bull runs. The most recent death occurred during the 1995 bull runs when American Matthew Peter Tassio bled to death minutes after being gored. The fact that emergency medical staff are standing by doesn't lessen the danger. But thousands and thousands of people travel to Pamplona to participate every year. Anyone who wants to run with the bulls can. There are no officials of any sort there to make sure you are qualified to be on the streets with the bulls. There are no release forms to sign. There are no qualifications. There is plenty of opportunity for participants to change their mind about running, but no one is turned away. When you enter the streets at Pamplona's Rochapea Rampart, where the runs begin, you are taking your life into your own hands. You and you alone are responsible for your life during the 850 meter run. But why? Why tempt fate? Why tempt God? Why tempt Nature? The reason has little to do with success of failure in the bull run. Those who are injured in the run suffer no less honor than those that aren't. In fact friends and family of injured runners wear the spilled "amigo blood" on their cheeks as a tribute to the runner's bravery. No, it's not the end result of the run that's important, but the run itself. The adrenaline rush is a human necessity, not a frill. Human beings need to know that they can handle the pressure when "events spin out of control." And when we have become so civilized that these needs aren't fulfilled, our culture invents ways to get them. Whether it's running with the bulls, or jumping in a mosh pit, or starting a revolution, or whatever; even if it's on a more humble scale, like excelling at a sport, or venturing out on a crowded urban street at night; even if there's no "rational" reason for it, like not wearing motorcycle helmets or seatbelts; taking chances and facing danger are a fundamental part of being human that can't be denied. So the questions we ask ourselves should not be, "Why are these men running with the bulls?" but "What sort of person would want to stop them?" Credits: Many thanks to John Vinas, Manuel Rodriguez, and Leo van Hove for their stories and insights into the Festival of San Fermin. Also thanks to New Media Publishing (http://www.spaincom.com/) for their Web site about the Festival and to CyberAgentes (http://www.eunet.es /InterStand/cyberagentes/cyber_14/s_fermin.htm) from whose web site I got the picture on page 2. (which you can't see in the e-mail edition!) =================================== Expand Your Horizons subscribe to Salon $5 single issue, $20/year Pat Hartman 305 W. Magnolia - Suite 386 Ft. Collins, CO 80521 =================================== =================================== Cultural Phenomena Teamwork vs Working as a Team Not too long ago, I was at out local airport to help some friends out by picking them up and driving them home; and while I was waiting for their plane to arrive, I learned a great lesson about teamwork. Our local airport is the Raleigh-Durham International. RDU isn't the largest airport on the planet earth. It's just big enough to have aspirations of developing into a big airport someday. The terminals are always under construction and constantly being revamped to remove any traces of local identity and give it that big, universal bland look that all the big airports have. In the terminal that my friends' flight was arriving at, there was so much construction and such that the "gates" were right there on the tarmac with the planes, If it weren't for the walls of glass, you could almost reach out and touch the planes. I really enjoyed this because I got to watch the plane arrival and the plane's attending crew. . As the plane rolled in, there was a crew of 5 waiting. I don't know the official titles for each of these people's jobs, but I'll call them the baggage handler, the parker, the greeter, and the two cleaners. Everyone has their particular spot to stand. The parker stands right where the pilot is supposed to point the nose of the plane. The baggage guy sits on the baggage tractor off to the left, about 20 yards away. The greeter stands by the controls of that mobile hallway thingy that connects to the plane's door. And the two cleaners stand beside and just behind the mobile hallway thingy. Everyone is paying close attention. Everyone is serious. As the plane rolls in, the parker waves those two orange sticks in parallel to each other to tell the pilot to come straight on in. Then, when the wheels of the plane are in just the right spot, the parker crosses the orange sticks into an X. This signals the pilot to put on the brakes. At this point everyone's attention focuses on the parker's X, except for the baggage guy. The baggage guy sees the X and then hops off the baggage tractor and uses these yellow brick like things to chock the wheels. The parker is carefully watching the baggage guy and he does not move the X sign until the wheels are fully secured and the baggage guy has moved out of the way. Then the parker folds the orange sticks together, and holds them over his head horizontally. This signals the pilot that he can release his brakes and shut down the plane. The greeter has been watching all this intently and when the orange X goes away, he knows it is safe to move the hallway thingy up to the door of the plane. When the hallway thingy starts moving, the two cleaning folks know that the plane has shut down enough that it is safe to head toward the rear exit of the plane. Meanwhile the parker and the baggage guy have moved the baggage tractor in place and started to unload the luggage and the greeter opens the door and lets the passengers off. Now, this was not a monumental task that was accomplished. It happens thousands of times everyday. But I was impressed that such a plain task was so carefully orchestrated. And I could tell by the way the crew acted that this was a highly scripted occasion. Everyone had their responsibility. And everyone depended on each other to do certain things at certain times. They were working as a team. For those of you who don't work in a corporate environment, you have to understand that companies are constantly waging propaganda campaigns to change our attitudes and make us better workers. I'm sure they are sincere and well meaning, but after awhile, you've heard so many company campaigns that you begin to tune them out. Management trends come and go. Buzzwords come and go. In my particular company, since I've worked there, we've had, "Total Quality," "10X improvement," "Market Driven Quality," "ISO-9 000," and now "personal business commitments." But "teamwork" is the one mantra that we never, ever stop hearing about. But they have somehow gotten off track. The corporate idea of "teamwork" is this warm fuzzy mutual support group sort of thing, no doubt designed by a psychologist, in which everyone is responsible for everything at all times, in which no one is supposed to worry about the shortcomings of others, in which everyone is supposed to make their egos subservient to the goals of the team, in which everyone is supposed to do anything and everything to "get the job done." But it doesn't work that way. Teamwork is not picking up the slack from your teammates when they fail. Teamwork is not _needing_ to pick up the slack from your teammates. Teamwork is not where everyone shares all the responsibilities, but where everyone has clearly defined roles. Teamwork is where more of your personal ego is invested in the project rather than less. As a passenger on the plane, which version of teamwork would you want the ground crew practicing? =================================== True Story Shakespeare Goes Goth From the Life-Imitates-Art Department with more than a little help from the Surrealists Association thrown in for good measure, here's a true story that happened to me just a few weeks ago. I had gone out to eat dinner with my neighbors and good friends, the Haslups. And afterwards, we decided that we would stop by the video store next door and rent a movie or two to watch. So we all trooped into the Video Bar to pick out a movie. But having just gorged myself at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, I wasn't much in the mood for walking around the video store. I was too stuffed! This particular video store had sort of a waiting area off to the side for the employees or whatever. So Irene, her son Chris, and I sat down at the table while her husband Lee went off in search of movies. Naturally we started talking about movies. Chris and I got sidetracked into a discussion about the movie, "The Crow" since there is a sequel coming out this summer. This led into a discussion about the difference between the Goth (or Gothic) scene and the Punk scene. Chris didn't understand that in "The Crow" the good guys are gothics, while the bad guys are punks, so I was trying to explain the difference. For a quick Cliff's notes version of subculture taxonomy, let's just say, for the purposes of discussion, that the Punks are the angry, violent, social misfits that listen to noise that sometimes, but not usually, resembles music. Goths are the brooding, pale, dressed-in-black tragic looking folks that always look like they've just had a death in the family, if not their own. They listen to mournful, ethereal dance music and only come out at night. Perhaps the one accoutrement that the Punks and the Goths have in common is that they tend to pierce their bodies with metal studs. Maybe that's why people confuse the two. Anyway, this was just normal, idle conversation to pass the time. No big deal, nothing unusual. But I was a little frustrated because Chris wasn't really following what I was trying to say about the Goths. And then I noticed this book. It was sitting there on the table where we were.. It was a thin brown book that looked like it had come from the back shelves of a library. It looked old and had one of those built in ribbon bookmarks in it marking a page in the book. Well, I couldn't resist. I picked up the book without even reading the title and opened it to the marked page. And it turned out that the book was the collected sonnets of William Shakespeare and the ribbon was marking Sonnet #127, which due to some bizarre synchronicity, perfectly captures the Gothic attitude: In the old age black was not counted fair, Or if it were, it bore not beauty's name; But now is black beauty's successive heir, And beauty slander'd with a bastard shame: For since each hand hath put on nature's power, Fairing the foul with art's false borrow'd face, Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower, But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace. Therefore my mistress' brows are raven black, Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack, Slandering creation with a false esteem: Yet so they mourn, becoming of their woe, That every tongue says beauty should look so. =================================== About Stuck In Traffic Stuck In Traffic is a monthly magazine dedicated to evaluating current events, examining cultural phenomena, and relating true stories. Why "Stuck In Traffic"? Because getting stuck in traffic is good for you. It's an opportunity to think, ponder, and reflect on all things, from the personal to the global. As Robert Pirsig wrote in _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_, "Let's consider a reevaluation of the situation in which we assume that the stuckness now occurring, the zero of consciousness, isn't the worst of all possible situations, but the best possible situation you could be in. After all, it's exactly this stuckness that Zen Buddhists go to so much trouble to induce...." Submissions: Submissions to Stuck In Traffic are always welcome. If you have something on your mind or a personal story you'd like to share, please do. You don't have to be a great writer to be published here, just sincere. Contact Information: All queries, submissions, subscription requests, comments, and hate-mail about Stuck In Traffic should be sent to Calvin Stacy Powers preferably via E-mail (powers@interpath.com) or by mail (2012 Talloway Drive, Cary, NC USA 27511). Copyright Notice: Stuck In Traffic is published and copyrighted by Calvin Stacy Powers who reserves all rights. Individual articles are copyrighted by their respective authors. Unsigned articles are authored by Calvin Stacy Powers. Permission is granted to redistribute and republish Stuck In Traffic for noncommercial purposes as long as it is redistributed as a whole, in its entirety, including this copyright notice. For permission to republish an individual article, contact the author. E-mail Subscriptions: E-mail subscriptions to the ASCII text edition of Stuck In Traffic are free. Send your subscription request to either address listed above. Print Subscriptions: Subscriptions to the printed edition of Stuck In Traffic are available for $10/year. Make checks payable to Calvin Stacy Powers and send to the address listed above. Individual issues are available for $2. Archives: Postscript and ASCII text editions of Stuck In Traffic are archived on the internet by etext.org at the following URL: gopher://gopher.etext.org/11/Zines/StuckInTraffic Trades: If you publish a 'zine and would like to trade issues or ad-space, send your zine or ad to either address above. Alliances: Stuck in Traffic supports the Blue Ribbon Campaign for free speech online. See for more information. Stuck In Traffic also supports the Golden Key Campaign for electronic privacy and security. 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