When doing your job is a moral dilemma

[Polenicus]

Okay, background time so this makes sense.

I'm a security guard. Specifically, what's called a Mobile Security Guard. This means that I drive around in a company vehicle, respond to alarms from our client sites, and do a set of patrols of client buildings scattered all over my assigned area.

For reference, I patrol Downtown Edmonton.

Generally, I patrol office buildings, usually giving them a once over once or twice a night to make sure everything is locked up, water heaters haven't exploded, and the like.

Now, as you may or may not have heard, last weekend it got cold in Edmonton. Second-coldest-place-on-Earth cold. It was -46 C at its coldest point, -59 C with windchill. This is extremely dangerous levels of cold. No matter HOW well prepared you are, you NEED shelter or it will kill you.

One of the buildings I patrol has a large above-ground parkade. Since it's attached to two buildings, two of the three stairwells are heated (And actually warmer than the office buildings themselves!)

Now, under normal circumstances, I'll be shooing homeless people out of these stairwells all the time. It's a favorite spot for the wrecks of humanity to go pass out after drinking themselves into a drunken coma. Usually it's not a big thing, you shoo them on, and hope they haven't used one of the elevators as a toilet yet.

But, at -59C? It's a bit harder to kick people out when you don't know if they have another warm place to go. And according to the news, with the homeless pitching a tent city in the river valley, apparently a lot didn't.

And, just to change things up, Fate decided to twist the knife on me.

On two separate days, I had to kick out two groups who were seeking shelter from the cold and sleeping in the stairwells of the parkade. But... these weren't the usual dregs, the ones who were usually so blitzed on substances of their choice that the only coherent words they can manage are obscenities. I'd feel bad enough kicking THEM out.

The first group? A trio of contractors who were out of work. They had their hard hats on their backpacks, and, except for one of them, were perfectly sober. When I asked them to leave, they were polite, pleasant, and apologetic, and set about cleaning up the landing they were sleeping on before hopping on the elevator. They never complained that I was sending them out into the killing cold. They never asked to stay or tried to bargain. They respected I was doing my job, and wished me a good evening.

Urk.

The second group? A mother and her teenage son. They were huddled in a blanket for warmth together, but had unfortunately chosen a spot with a camera pointed at it. The boy had a nosebleed from the cold and dryness. Again, the mother was pleasant and respectful, even though from the bags under both of their eyes I don't think they had gotten many good nights sleep. They never complained as I escorted them onto the elevator and sent them away.

Any other time of the year I'd never think twice about this. But... darting out into this cold for the brief moments I had to from the safety of my warm car was hard enough... the cold was intense enough to burn exposed flesh the instant you stepped out into it. Metal was so cold that it seared to just brush it. It burned to breathe. Even properly bundled, I don't think anyone could last for long in it, and sleeping outside without a heat source, regardless of shelter I'm certain would be fatal.

I did my job both times. I'm hired to protect the client's property, and the safety of them and their guests, and people sleeping in the stairwells is a hazard... particularly if they're the unpredictable sort that Edmonton has been so fond of booting onto the streets from the mental hospitals. I know that these people need help, but I also know that the properties I patrol do not belong to me, and permission to stay is not something I am entitled to give. I can't 'just overlook' it, even once, because then the problem explodes.

But I've never been more tempted than I was this weekend.

There was only one reported death from the cold this weekend, and it wasn't any of the people I evicted. But I still wish that just once I had been a little less thorough in my patrolling.

[csquared]

First two things on my list.

1. Start collecting information on shelters and other locations that you can direct them to.

2. Ask up the chain of command if they will wave the evictions when temperatures are deadly. It is bad PR to have someone die because you kicked them out.

[Broomjockey]

It is bad PR to have someone die because you kicked them out.

Not to be heartless, but it's very unlikely that anyone would ever know. While this might not be a city the size of most major metropolitan areas in the US, it's still a very sizable population, and covers a large area. If Pol kicked someone out, and they wandered 20 or so blocks out of downtown, and they did die from exposure, they might not even be found right away, and it'd be unlikely that Pol would remember them well enough after a week or two, and the police would have no way of knowing if the deceased had ever been near one of his buildings.

That said, dude, sucks. It's not getting a lot warmer out. Definitely talk to your uppers about any potential remedies.

[Seshat]

I second the notion of identifying shelters - and also talk to the shelter staff about valid places to send them if the shelter is overloaded.

In killing cold like that, though I hesitate to risk overloading emergency rooms, I'd be tempted to send shelter overflow to them. Staying out of the way in the waiting room is, at least, preventing emergency....

Better to have proper shelter, though. Even a dormitory.

Hm. Could be worth asking the City Council to provide a heated building whenever temperatures are below (killing cold).

[Broomjockey]

Hm. Could be worth asking the City Council to provide a heated building whenever temperatures are below (killing cold).

Never happen. The temperature hits "killing cold" around here so often (though not as cold as that night) that the building would pretty much need to be run all winter, so it'd basically become another permanent shelter. We've been having overnights of below -20C, which, without a heat source, will likely kill or maim you. And it'd probably be more hassle and expense to open it 5 days of the week instead of 7, so the city would basically have to commit to opening a winter shelter, and they don't have the budget-management skills to do that. We're talking about a city council that blows the entire snow removal budget for the city by the end of December 3 out of the past 5 years.

There's an incredibly dark "joke" I heard once that pretty much speaks directly to this topic. I'll put it in white text for those who'd rather not read it:

Seriously, turn back oh ye who still find sanctity in life.

No. Really. This one's "serial killer level" dark.

Last chance to turn back.

**
Canada has a program for dealing with the homeless. It's called "winter."
**

I warned you.

[dalesys]

My cousin in Fairbanks, AK says their definition of "spring" is:

"When the winos come out of the (snow)banks."

[bainsidhe]

I'm on the US side of Lake Ontario. I'm already tired of winter, cold and snow. But colder than -40C. Holy crapola!

[BlaqueKatt]

Never happen. The temperature hits "killing cold" around here so often (though not as cold as that night) that the building would pretty much need to be run all winter, so it'd basically become another permanent shelter.

my city has a "warming shelter" on cold nights, no you can't sleep there-no beds no chairs. but you can come in from the cold, they usually serve hot chocolate/tea/coffee

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I grew up in and attended college in Ottawa, Ontario. I remember several nights where the temps hit -45 or colder with the windchill. In one instance I got off the bus and dashed home, this was a distance of maybe a hundred yards. I was already chilled by the time I got to the door.

That kind of cold will cause you serious problems quickly, even if you are bundled up to the max (as I was).

[LillFilly]

I'm glad you had the heart to worry about them; a lot of my coworkers wouldn't feel bad at all, saying 'Hey, not my problem.' I feel bad when I find people sleeping in their cars in our lots. I have to ask them to leave, but when they're homeless, or have had an argument with their significant other, I feel so guilty. I even feel guilty about truckers, wondering if they'll get in an accident because they're sleepy because I woke them up.

That's a great idea to have information on local shelters. It's a shame you can't do more for them.

About that joke; where I used to live in VT, a local college student actually wandered drunk from a bar late at night to walk back to his dorm, went completely the wrong way and passed-out in a snow drift in a parking lot. They found his body the next day. It emphasized the 'look out for your friends' concept while at the bars.

[Seshat]

There's an incredibly dark "joke" I heard once that pretty much speaks directly to this topic. I'll put it in white text for those who'd rather not read it:

Gack!

Um. Uck. Ewww.

[Brojekk]

I usually like dark jokes to some extent...but this one..not so funny.

[Broomjockey]

Should I put more warnings on that? I figured anyone who knew me would know for me to call something dark means it's pretty bad, and the quotes around "joke"... but with at least two people now potentially traumatized...

[Whiskey]

When I was homeless I was lucky enough to be so in (the middle of) California where a freezing winter is ~35 degrees on the worst days. My city got "snow" (which apparently happened at 6AM, but at 8AM when I left for school the ground was simply wet) last week and everyone was freaking out.

Its still kind of a kick in the face to be woken up at 5AM, freezing cold, to police knocking on your car window telling you to move your car or they're going to tow it.

[Geek King]

Should I put more warnings on that? I figured anyone who knew me would know for me to call something dark means it's pretty bad, and the quotes around "joke"... but with at least two people now potentially traumatized...

Meh. I've seen much, much worse. But then, I've been on the internet since before it was easy to use.