The year is 1985. A young man goes to deposit money after hours in a trendy new Automated Teller Machine that is, for esthetics rather than safety, surrounded by dense, high hedges and streaked with deep shadows from dim mood lighting.
A surprise to no one reading this today: The man gets jumped by criminals hiding in the foliage and darkness, shot in the face and blinded in one eye.
A different time, indeed. The world had yet not felt the impact of Steve Yerrid.
The oversight of safety measures at an outdoor ATM seems absurd through today’s lens, when we’re all practiced in cupping our hands for cover as we punch in our pin numbers.
We sometimes forget. We forget that corporations too often look at safety protocols as expensive and low-priority – if they’re on the radar at all. We forget that governments are slow-moving and filled with politicians too often looking to advance their own careers rather than seeking to better society. We forget that lots of bad actors in both spheres will try to get away with whatever they can.
We forget why we need lawyers.