A plan to install electronic panic buttons on city employees’ computers is being called “a complete waste of money” as Boston faces a $140 million shortfall.Let me get this straight. A button on a computer keyboard or a foot pedal on the floor (oh, no chance that could have an accidental triggering, right?) is somehow more convenient than dialing 911? In what universe does this make sense? How bad could it be, you ask?
Under the expensive proposal uncovered by a city watchdog group, workers would be able to hit a button on their computer or push a pedal on the floor to summon help if an angry taxpayer storms into City Hall or if someone arguing a parking ticket gets out of hand.
The system costs $250 per computer plus $50 extra for the optional foot pedal, according to a city watchdog group. Costs could reach $5 million for the Hub’s 17,000-member work force.
$250 per computer. Now, how expensive would it be to wire your own panic button in each office? $250 per employee? Hell, for $250 you could issue each and every employee a nice 4" Smith & Wesson model 10... Of course, any one that would want a "panic button" on their computer would probably faint dead away from the mere suggestion that guns exist...
MA: You're more likely to shit your pants in abject fear here.
That is all.
6 comments:
These are the same city employees who have fancy phones with speed-dial right there on their desks, right? Probably most of them also have cellphones with speakerphone features and speed-dial, too. I wonder how much it would cost to have each of them program 911 as one of his speed-dial numbers.
You know what is more amazing than the fact that somebody actually thought this up?.......That somebody was stupid enough to actually voice it outloud, IN PUBLIC. Wait.....I thought a whistle was good enough to protect yourself! For about 50 cents a throw, everybody could get a little plastic whistle replica of the lion from Wizard of Oz.
Probably could sell them a S&W sigma for even cheaper...
Yeah, but then they'd have a cheap plastic brick to hit their assailant with...
Would be better served if the customers had access to the buttons. 'Panic' whenever a hack has no idea what they are doing.
Jay,
There's only one panic button that anyone really needs in an emergency...
and it isn't really a button. More like a lever.
It's made of steel.
It has only 2 positions, on and off.
It can usually be found on the left side of the frame of a Model 1911 A-1.
And in the right hand, this will almost always solve an emergency faster and better than any button on any keyboard or telephone.
Waddaya think?
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