Did it ever occur to you why cars have license plates? If it weren’t for hit and runs or the use of vehicles to carry out crimes we probably wouldn’t need license plates. Everyone would have a plateless vehicle and the only time anyone would care who owned what was when someone had lost their vehicle or said person was lost and the vehicle was what might help searchers find them. One simple thing, a license plate, results simply because people are assholes.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Not so much license plates, but how many other aspects of our society are written in stone because our species is full of assholes. As a software engineer it goes without saying: we spend an inordinate amount of our time trying to prevent black hats (evil hackers) from doing terrible things. But what other (similar) things are here as a result of assholes?
- Personal identification cards, birth certificates, etc.
- PIN numbers on debit cards (though it still amazes me to no end anyone could take your credit card and use it freely without any type of verifications).
- Locks on doors and windows hence keys (security cards, etc.)
- Security cameras, speed cameras
- Lockers at schools, gyms, etc.
- Encryption and codes of any sort (except as intellectual or recreational exercises)
- The TSA
- Prenups
- Contracts of any kind (beyond a simple hand shake)
One that I almost put on the list was parental controls (i.e. on smart televisions, computers, phones, etc.). I don’t include these type of restrictionary measures because kids are, by nature, curious, not necessarily assholes (though it could be argued most of them are assholes, just not to the extent adults are).
On another note I woke up feeling okay today. Such a strange thing. Granted, I slept in until noon, sleep being the best predictor of how I’ll feel on any given day, but it was strange. I ate a huge meal yesterday, plus a ton of hot freshly cooked chocolate laden brownies, and several glasses of wine topped off three or four hours later with a couple of fingers of vodka. But here I am feeling alright and drinking a cup of coffee (caffeine being one of the first things I gave up after my ER visit in July). And here I am, much earlier, writing in my journal, cup of hot Joe at my left, watching City Slickers on my old CRT and VCR combination. My body makes no goddamn sense.