The statute of limitations was up - so we could finally record this podcast!  Why is John Steele thinking of leaving Seattle after 24 years & where is his car's headrest? GROWING UP IN NYC. After growing up in New York, John escaped to Seattle, finding the city affordable, relaxed and relatively unspoiled by rampant development. NYC had deteriorated and John noted the drug culture dominated the city he from which he was planning his escape. So he flipped coasts - and Seattle was unspoiled. Microsoft was just preparing to launch the Windows operating system and Amazon had yet to celebrate its first birthday. AND THEN SEATTLE CHANGED. I suppose all communities are always changing and John pointed out that there are many aspects of the city that he continues to enjoy such as the perk of having an Amazon order delivered to his door in an hour. However, the homeless population is burgeoning and John shares that a friend who is a police officer was directed to “stand down” if observing a person using drugs in public. PROPERTY VALUES SKYROCKETED. John’s condo value has increased from $150,000 to $600,000 in 24 years. He has considered selling it and moving an hour away from the city. As a minimalist, he is thoughtful to not have possessions that own him, through insurance or taxes, upkeep or else bringing attention to him. CAR WAS STOLEN. It wasn’t long ago that John’s car was stolen. His ride wasn’t new, but, as he states with a laugh, “It was the longest relationship I had been in!” The silver lining was that the police allowed him to keep the cache of stolen video games the thieves left in the trunk of car (although his missing headrest was never recovered). This underlined the reality that property crimes were rising and encroaching on his home. Then, a presumed homeless or mentally ill person darted out in front of him while he was driving his new car. He didn’t hit the person, but again the message was delivered that the city was less predictable that it had been 24 years ago. PRIVATE DETECTIVE. Want to know a few borderline techniques for obtaining sensitive information? John recounts tricks of the trade he was made aware of in his decade stint as a private detective. His entertaining accounts also reveal that security protocols are easily foiled by simple approaches, such as using a TTY line to request private information. MAJOR LEAGUE - just a bit outside... David and John toss out a few lines from the memorable baseball comedy film Major League and Indians announcer Harry Doyle makes a cameo to give a shout out to the podcast’s sponsors. Listen in to this fun show that parses out the role that situational awareness plays as one determines if it’s finally time to move on to a “safer” residence – and if such a place even exists somewhere out there over Mount Rainier. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. THIS EPISODE’S GUEST. Find John Steele on Twitter @John_Steele99 or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnSteeleshow

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In his book Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes famously imagines human beings in a state of nature where life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” People will, Hobbes argues, quickly flee such a terrible condition, creating for their own protection a mighty Sovereign and enter into a social contract. Dr. Perrodin discusses how Hobbes’ perspective on the absolute need for social constructs manifested in the unfathomable harbor rescue of 500,000 people from Lower Manhattan on 09/01/2001 and again when Cajun Navy Relief rescued countless numbers of people stranded by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey in 2017. Something is stirring in the field of social contract theory. WHO WAS THOMAS HOBBES? Thomas Hobbes lived through the English Civil War.  The long and bloody struggle between the parliament and crown motivated and shaped his political ideas.  Hobbes studied how people lived together - without killing each other! LEVIATHAN AND SOCIAL CONTRACTS. Leviathan rigorously argues that civil peace and social unity are best achieved by the establishment of a commonwealth through social contract. Hobbes's ideal commonwealth is ruled by a sovereign power responsible for protecting the security of the commonwealth and granted absolute authority to ensure the common defense. In his introduction, Hobbes describes this commonwealth as an "artificial person" and as a body politic that mimics the human body. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY. Schools are investing in expensive, unproven, or proven for a very narrow benefit (bollards) items. Parents are more willing than ever to surrender rights to privacy in exchange for safer schools. But, is this necessary, where does it end, and what happens to the social contract when parents have nothing left to offer to the state? Dr. Perrodin argues that there is virtually no questioning, no deliberations - the safety grants are there and most schools can make changes to buildings to improve safety and it’s exempted from spending caps - but again, is this making schools safer or just moving the targets? He also states that short-term social contracts in which people severed their contract with the state and replaced it with a contract with Cajun Navy Relief, for example, is actually a very positive sign for the future of enabling rescue systems to organically arise during a crisis. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com.

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Dr. Perrodin interviews Charles Mak - Information Technology Field Support Analyst with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The duo discuss the remarkably strong safety culture at Mr. Mak's former employer as well as work safety, economic safety obtained with certifications and side hustles, and how to transition to a new employer without violating the non-disclosure parameters of taking company information out the door with you. SAFETY CULTURE AT WORK. Charles describes the monthly safety meetings embedded in the practices of his former employer, US Steel. Meetings included a review of safety statistics throughout the large-scale industrial company, discussion of any safety incidents as in what happened, what was the response and then how practices have changed to promote a safer work environment. Dr. Perrodin noted that he rarely sees safety addressed to this depth in the school setting. ECONOMIC SELF SAFETY – GET A SIDE HUSTLE! In addition to working as IT professional, Charles has seeded several “side hustles” which have afforded him income streams to both supplement, and at times, supplant, his primary income. For example, he developed a successful e-commerce sports memorabilia site on EBAY. He added that cultivating multiple income streams was just something inherent to the philosophy and practices of his family members. David shares some of his own “side hustles” and the under-valued recognition of such endeavors as contributing to one’s personal economic resiliency and becoming more and more marketable to employers. Charles adds that he obtained additional certifications in IT to bolster his resume (and that the trainings for these certifications were paid by his employer). LOW PROFILE. Both Charles and David dis-engaged from Facebook about 5 years. Charles shares the importance of maintaining a low, and appropriate, social media profile as employers are frequently monitoring the online presence of their employees and observing for any behavior that reflects poorly upon the company. TRANSITIONING TO A NEW JOB – WHAT WE OVERLOOK. Charles recently made the transition to a new employer. As part of that transition, he needed to be aware of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) he had with his employer. David noted that NDAs are relevant to school staff, but he perceives that many of these folks don’t grasp the depth of the NDA and walk out the door with files that are the property of the school district. Although rarely malicious, such behavior can lead to legal action by the previous employer. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com David will respond to comments & emails. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests and do not reflect positions of The 405 Media or supporters of “The Safety Doc Podcast”. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. Email David: thesafetydoc@gmail.com LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com.

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