# What Would You Do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320 "2004-07-22T10:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/21 "2004-07-22T20:05:06Z")
Yesterday, probably nothing. Today, I’d report it. “Failure of imagination” and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/22 "2004-07-23T00:32:32Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > What would you do if you were walking through the busiest international airport in the United States and you saw a Middle Eastern man videotaping the board which features the arrival and departure information for all flights? Wonder why I automatically assumed that the man was middle eastern and not Texan (or whatever) because I live in america ‘the racial melting pot of the world’. I’d then get on with minding my **own** business. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/23 "2004-07-23T04:16:26Z")
I’d assume he was making a Michael Moore style docudrama and punch him in the face. The world only needs one Moore. 😉 Okay, since I’m a small woman, I’d probably give him a dirty look and move on. It’s not as though fight times are top secret, so I doubt I’d read much into it. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/24 "2004-07-23T04:31:01Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > He was probably planning on editing it later, and having a few exposition shots. This is how paranoid I am since 9/11: I read this as “having a few explosion shots.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/25 "2004-07-23T04:42:00Z")
I’ve seen people video taping so many weird things in my life (billboards, menus, the inside of elevators)…that I would think nothing of it. If I gave it a thought, I’d think they were really intent on taping every single moment of the best vacation they ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/26 "2004-07-23T05:00:14Z")
Nothing. It’s a free country ( well sort of ). I’d figure that he was taping the arrival of some friend or relative that was coming to meet him. How do we know he’s Middle Eastern anyway? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/27 "2004-07-23T06:01:15Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Tell her to take the lens cap off. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/28 "2004-07-23T07:21:07Z")
> [@](#): > > **Arch Trout** : Wonder why I automatically assumed that the man was middle eastern and not Texan (or whatever) because I live in america ‘the racial melting pot of the world’. > > I’d then get on with minding my own business. You are right. I should have described him as being of Middle Eastern discent. > [@](#): > > **Machetero** : How do we know he’s Middle Eastern anyway? I assumed that he is Middle Eastern because he looks like so many of the people from the Middle East who live in my neighborhood. > [@](#): > > **Grim** : What would you do if you were walking through the busiest international airport in the United States and you saw a Blond-haired, blue-eyed woman videotaping the board which features the arrival and departure information for all flights? That’s one of the reasons that I asked. I _know_ that if I had assumed that he was other than Middle Eastern, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it and that bothers me. Or if it had been a woman, I wouldn’t have paid any attention. I hate the thought that I am developing a fear or suspicion of them. It’s bigotry and I don’t like it. This did happen to me in April and I did nothing. It has never occured to me that anyone would tape an arrival and departure board for a vacation film, but then it makes sense now that it is mentioned. In retrospect I was beginning to think that I _should_ have mentioned it to someone more familiar with what is and what isn’t normal behavior in an airport. I didn’t because I didn’t want to look foolish and I soon forgot about it in the excitement of the departure to Paris. Tending to our own business is emotionally intelligent. Ignoring suspicious behavior in an airport is irresponsible. As an unseasoned traveller, I wasn’t sure what to do. **Lib** , you are right on the money. No way to win that one. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/29 "2004-07-23T18:45:33Z")
It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. However I always check out ‘the big board’. In Penn Station they used to have one of those cool ones where the letters flip over suddenly when the board is updated. I really liked that and I wanted to keep the one when they replaced it with an electronic one. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/30 "2004-07-23T19:58:46Z")
Maybe he’s just recording info in a language he cant read: he’ll later grab his wife or kid and ask to translate when they look at the playback on the viewfinder. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/31 "2004-07-23T20:15:35Z")
I walk on past without another thought. If an absent-minded and frequently oblivious dumbass like myself actually notices something, there’s approximately zero chance the professionals whose job it is to watch the terminal haven’t already seen it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/32 "2004-07-23T20:17:45Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I’d have to wonder about _anyone_ who is videotaping flight information. Jotting something down or looking it up on the internet as a reference is one thing. But videotaping? I once videotaped a minute’s worth of footage at an Arrival Board at the Hong Kong pier. Ended up using six seconds of it for a scene-establishing shot in my vacation video. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/33 "2004-07-23T20:40:02Z")
I would grab it from his hands, throw it to the ground, and sceam “why can’t you damn paparazzi leave me _alone!_” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/34 "2004-07-23T21:31:53Z")
How do you know the boards are the only thing he is videotaping in the terminal? Unfortunately, ethnic appearance is one of the distringuishing factors of a group of people who want to do serious harm to our society. I say unfortunately, because it ties into politics and current “enlightened” thinking, and that makes us liable to bend over backwards to avoid using a potentially useful piece of intelligence. In my thinking, being middle eastern looking in itself is not a danger factor. But I think we would be foolish to ingore it as a potential compounding factor when assessing other possible risk factors, eg: Person of x ethnic appearance asking to purchase crop dusting equipment for an airplane at an airport in New Jersey. Person of Y ehtnic appearance buying a large quantity of castor beans. Person of Z ethnic appearance seeking to sell high value diamonds off the street. Substitute a middle-eastern or other ethnic appearance in these activities, and tell me it doesn’t really make your risk meter go up higher… I speak, by the way, as a person who has, at one time or another, been thought to be: persian, jewish, armenian, and indian (from India). My wife and all my in-laws (from India), as well as a large proportion of our social circle, all look of possible middle-eastern origin. So I include myself and my family in that category. So I would report. If the guy is innocent, and he doesn’t have other incriminating footage in his camera, if he doesn’t have other danger signs, then one person has lost a few hours time. No real harm done. Consider the alternative. My wife has had to undergo additional continuing medical education training for dealing with a “mass-casualty radiological incident”. I don’t want her to have to use it. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/35 "2004-07-23T23:16:56Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > How do you know the boards are the only thing he is videotaping in the terminal? I have no objection to reporting the other activities that you mentioned in your post, **trupa**. But, first, any of those things done by someone of ANY ethnic extraction would still raise flags in my mind. In fact, with the exception of the crop dusting equipment, I have trouble imagining any legitimate reason for those behaviors. :dubious: Secondly, I still don’t see how there’s anything that someone could videotape in any portion of the publically accessible section of the airport that isn’t going to be information available via other sources. On rethinking - if someone’s spending a couple of minutes videotaping an employee lounge or the like, that might raise my hackles. But the arrival/departure boards? Come on - what possible use is that information to a would-be terrorist that could not be duplicated through other publically accessible information sources? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/36 "2004-07-24T00:50:19Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > Unfortunately, ethnic appearance is one of the distringuishing factors of a group of people who want to do serious harm to our society. This is the second time today I’ve posted this link: [www.brownequalsterrorist.com](http://www.brownequalsterrorist.com) If we get frightened and irrational enough, we’ll be able to do serious harm to our society all by ourselves without any help from anybody. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320/37 "2004-07-24T01:01:43Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > If we get frightened and irrational enough, we’ll be able to do serious harm to our society all by ourselves without any help from anybody. We already have. :rolleyes: Until someone has the chutzpah to point out that the only way to guarantee against a repeat of the 9/11 and Oklahoma City attacks is to establish a system of internal passports and checks of the same scale as used in the old Soviet Union, we’re going to slowly creep towards that ideal. I’m not going to say that there shouldn’t have been some improvements in coordination of various internal security organizations in the wake of 9/11. But the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, while a political necessity, still seems to be an ideological error. Of course, part of that is that I am prejudiced against granting the government any more authority than it absolutely needs - and am willing to accept certain levels of risk to accomodate that philosophy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/256320.md?page=1)