You`re about to have a very bad day. You`re jolted awake by a tremendously loud siren. The smoke is as thick as bad Los Angeles smog, but your Light Alert fire alarm automatically shines a beacon that guides you to the door. Covering your face with your Emergency Face Mask, you frantically attempt to make it to your child`s room. All seems hopeless, but you look down and there she is. She found you by listening to Vocalert, a talking fire alarm with a programmable computer voice that calmed her down and directed her straight to your room.
Still, you`re on the 10th floor, the fire-department crew hasn`t arrived yet and the flames are drawing nearer. Suddenly, you remember an item in your briefcase-the Exit Traveler, a portable fire ladder. This contraption, which you`ve lugged from hotel to hotel, weighs only a few pounds but unfolds to reach 12 stories down. Hooking it onto your window, you get on it, and its automatic pulley system slowly lowers you and your child to the ground.
A futuristic fantasy? A 21st Century wish list?
No. Talking fire alarms and portable fire ladders are only a couple of recent entries in the booming safety- and security-products market that are rapidly appearing in all areas of everyday life.
How many times, for instance, have people recoiled in shock and even actually been burned when the water coming out of their showerhead suddenly reaches scalding temperature? But you`ve provided against that with Shower Guard, which automatically maintains a safe mixture of cold and hot water. In your haste, you slip on the soap but avoid falling because you held onto your Shower Guard Rail and you`ve sprayed the bottom of your bathtub with Slip Stop, an anti-slip product. Before leaving the house, you check your Radon Gas Detector and Microwave Detector to make sure you don`t return to a radioactive home without your knowing it.
Making your way past Mrs. Rafferty`s menacing pit bull, you calmly flick on your Dazzler, an ultrasonic dog deterrent that that drives Bowzer away with a high-frequency sound. As you get into your car, you note the presence of Security Bear on the back seat. It looks like a child`s harmless teddy bear, but should anyone try to break into the car, it emits a shrieking, piercingly loud alarm that can scare away would-be thieves who wouldn`t even know where the alert is coming from.
Whether we`re actually living in more hazardous times or it just appears so because of never-ending crime shows, sensationalized news broadcasts and an increased awareness of environmental issues is open to debate. What`s certain, though, is that people FEEL more threatened than before, and the market for safety- and security-related products is growing by leaps and bounds.
Just ask the couple who opened The Safety Zone, a store in Woodbridge, N.J., that stocks nothing but safety and security products. The owners, Tony Lee and Melanie Franklin, two transplanted Britons, came up with the idea when they kept encountering friends who were having accidents and mishaps.
The bright ”We`re here to help you” atmosphere of The Safety Zone represents a fundamental change in the way security devices are marketed. You used to find them stacked on the back shelves of cluttered hardware stores, or you had to call security companies to come in and install various alarms and devices.
The very existence of The Safety Zone elicits ambivalent reactions. There is the ”What is the world coming to?” crowd that is saddened that such a store is even necessary. To this group, the success of the store is a testament to how deeply crime, environmental mishaps and all kinds of threatening situations have spread throughout society. On the other hand, there are those who thank the store for opening and allowing them to feel that protecting themselves and their loved ones is not a manifestation of paranoia but a perfectly reasonable and even noble course of action. There are, apparently, many people in this group; the store is doing such brisk business that it may soon go national.
Although the shop is cheerful enough, a red neon sign with continuously changing messages reminds everyone that danger is never far away: BICYCLE-RELATED INJURIES CAUSE MORE THAN 500,000 EMERGENCY-ROOM VISITS A YEAR. . . . AN ESTIMATED 35,000 EYE INJURIES ARE CAUSED IN SPORTS EACH YEAR. . . . A BURGLARY OCCURS EVERY 12 SECONDS IN AMERICA. . . . PROTECT YOUR HOME. . . . 5,300 PEOPLE DROWNED IN 1987. . . . EACH YEAR THERE ARE 187,000 INJURIES FROM ACCIDENTS IN TUBS AND SHOWER STALLS. . . .
In a country where many still regard mandatory use of car seat belts and motorcycle helmets as infringements on their personal freedom, the array of safety products is dazzling. Safety products run the gamut from a $2 pill box with Braille markings to home motion detectors worth several hundred dollars that can imitate barking dogs to nonglare computer screens to 75-cent decals that proclaim to would-be burglars that your home is protected by an elaborate security system even though it`s not.
Think of how these products can-if they haven`t already-become a part of your daily routine. Whenever you get in your car, you can turn on your car radio relieved that it hasn`t been stolen, because you have covered it with a contraption, complete with loose wires hanging out of it, to make it look as if it has already been ripped out.
On long drives, you might begin to nod off. But you`d be wearing your Doze Alarm, which, fastened around your neck, detects any downward head motion and, with a piercing siren, not only jolts you awake but also makes sure you don`t fall asleep again soon. And whenever you stop for gas and pay with your credit card, you won`t drive away without your card, because your Securacard wallet will beep to alert you that you have not put your card back in it.
Whether our fears are exaggerated or not, there are several, somewhat contradictory factors for the explosive growth of safety-related products. Among them:
-An aging population, one that is more prone to accidents and more vulnerable to criminal attack.
-An increase in the number of two-income families, creating an entire generation of unattended latch key children.
-More people living alone because of increased mobility and divorces.
-Scary events, such as the Tylenol poisonings of a few years back, which heighten a general awareness of the need to take precautions against random, unexpected dangers.
-Technological advances, such as the miniaturization of computer chips, that make sophisticated safety devices both feasible and affordable.
-Baby Boomers having babies of their own and becoming concerned about attendant safety issues.
Safety products for infants, in fact, constitute a whole industry by itself. There`s the Choke-Tester, a simple tube that helps determine whether an object is safe to leave within reach of a child. VCR Lock prevents children from sticking their hands inside the empty slot of a videocassette recorder. Baby Calls enables you to listen in from another room. And there are motion-restraining belts and alarms that sound when children accidentally fall into a swimming pool and beepers that sound an alert when a child wanders away beyond a certain distance.
Some safety devices are meant to draw attention to your presence, among them umbrellas that light up (Rain-Glo) and luminous signs (Highway Help) that signal your need for assistance because you have a flat tire or have run out of gas. Other products are for use when you want to avoid certain encounters. Among them are a hand-held device called the Portable Walking Alarm that blares loudly should it be dislodged from your grasp and a spray called Repulse that can disable an attacker as well as leave him with a skunklike stench that can only be removed by a special antidote and thus mark him for easy identification by law officers.
Safety products are no longer just for humans either. There are seat belts for dogs and first-aid kits for pets and devices that hook on to car bumpers that emit ultrasonic signals to warn deer and other animals away from a possible collision.
Some products are so simple it`s hard to imagine why they haven`t appeared on the market sooner. A Blind Spot Mirror, attached to the top of a car`s rearview mirror, neatly eliminates that dreaded blind spot. Reach It is simply a pair of tongs that adds 21 inches to your height and eliminates the need to clamber up and down stools and stepladders. And the Extension-Ladder Bag is just that, a bag that can be attached to a ladder to enable you to do tasks atop a ladder without having to reach out precariously for various tools.
Other products are marvels of sophistication and ingenuity. Your child, for instance, may still be too young to read, but he or she can quickly reach you by phone at the office by pushing a button with a large picture of your face on it. The device has room for 11 other one-button numbers.
Say you are out shopping, and as you step out of the last store, you realize you don`t remember where you parked your car in a 3,000-car lot. No problem. You simply push the button on your Where Is My Car finder, and a siren goes off inside your car and its headlights start flashing. As you head toward your car, you notice a couple of would-be thieves running away from it, apparently scared away by the siren.
Afraid of burglars getting past your house security system and making off with your prized jewelry and other valuables? Among the clever ways to protect them are safes that perfectly replicate cans of Coca-Cola, Pledge, Lite beer and Colgate shaving cream or flower pots and even fully functional fire extinguishers.
But does loading ourselves with all kinds of safety and security devices actually make us more safe? Dr. Denise Phillips, a practicing New York City clinical psychologist, says, ”Depending on all these technological advances can give us a false sense of security and exacerbate a threatening
encounter.” That there are now so many of these safety devices she attributes to ”a pervasive sense of vulnerability among the general populace.” She also notes that although a person may feel more secure by carrying a gun or a can of Mace, more often than not he or she will not actually use it when accosted. Furthermore, by focusing your attention on the dangers they are supposed to guard against, these devices can make you feel even more threatened. Safety Zone co-owner Lee admits that the many stories he hears from his customers has made him more aware of potential dangers. Pointing to Betty Saks, the store`s products manager, Lee says jokingly, ”Until she met us, she had no idea how much danger she was in, but now she`s totally paranoid.”
Being aware of the dangers around us can start, rightly or wrongly, at an early age. There are now children`s books that deal with such topics as how a child should deal with strangers and guard against pesticides.
For those of us who grew up enthralled by the high-tech tools and weapons of Agent 007, Dick Tracy`s two-way wrist radio and Maxwell Smart`s shoe phone, Spytech is a dream come true. It`s a store, on the 80th floor of New York`s Empire State Building, that specializes in high-tech safety and surveillance items for use by individuals and corporations.
Afraid that your office has been bugged? Skytech can sell you just the right bug detector. You can also get a Telephone Scrambler, to foil anyone trying to listen directly to your phone lines, and a Noise Generator, which emits an imperceptible signal to thwart attempts to eavesdrop on you as you talk.
Suspicious of a bomb in your mail? If it`s an envelope, you spray it with your CIA Letter Bomb Spray, rendering it transparent for about 15 seconds and allowing you to see its contents with crystal clarity. If it`s a false alarm, not to worry; the envelope is soon completely dry again, and the special birthday card from your mother remains intact.
Leery of attending a meeting about a possible hostile takeover of your company? Arm yourself with an attache-case tape recorder and a backup book tape recorder. Anxious about sensitive documents being consigned to the paper shredder? Discreetly make copies of them with your wristwatch camera. Ready to do some direct surveillance yourself? Your equipment should include a Pocket Scope, which allows you to see clearly in the dark, and a pocket-sized infrared Mini-Camera that can take photos in the dark. And if you`re worried about unwanted access to your fax machine, there are fax scramblers and fax interceptors to protect your transmissions.
Of course, It doesn`t take a genius to figure out that anyone of these gadgets and devices can be abused. The American Civil Liberties Union and other such groups in fact have claimed that many safety and security products have crossed the line into unconstitutional surveillance and invasion of privacy.
”It`s outrageous that people can lay electronic traps for spouses, neighbors, friends and enemies,” says Jan Goldman, an ACLU attorney who specializes in these issues. ”We`re opposed to all devices that record people without their knowledge.”
Others, however, may argue that despite the possibility of abuse, the vast majority of these devices remains geared principally toward personal safety and the prevention of accidents.
And still others may say that by and large you don`t really have to have any of the more sexy and expensive gadgets, that old tried-and-true, common-sense practices are quite enough to keep you sound and safe. Such as: Learn basic first aid; keep lights on at home and have someone pick up your mail when you`re away; to discourage being mugged in crime-prone areas, be alert and walk as if you know where you`re going-your local police department is chock full of tips.
Or, as was the practice of the store manager at The Safety Zone: ”I wore a black fedora and topcoat and walked menacingly down the street. Everyone crossed over to the other side.”
Hey, don`t laugh. It worked.
