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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3301 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 10, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I just found out that hotels have terrible security where I live (Dubai).

My friend and I were pretty well dressed for a wedding (Haircuts, beard trimmed, tailor-made suits on). Knowing that you can get into various places if you have a high-vis suit and a ladder on you, we decided to find out how far can looking like a really important rich person get you.

We walked (with stern determined facial expressions) into various high-end (really high end 5 star international chains, imagine 1000's of important international tourists and businessmen venues) hotels buffets, ate the food, chilled in their VIP lounges (ate the food there too), and chilled by their rooftop swimming pools, all of it just by confidently walking into the hotel, and going where we had to. Usually, you get carded before entering any ballroom or facility of a hotel but for some reason, we didn't get carded even once as we nonchalantly walked past the security and the service staff even made things easier for us by checking in to make sure whatsoever we were enjoying was good enough.

I am not too ashamed about committing theft in this instance because all of it was soo amusing for us.

This is how a high-trust society feels like.

The most interesting case I personally experienced was when I booked a small hotel 1 km from the center of Tallinn. And I was arriving after midnight so I asked them if that's OK and they said that they will leave the front door unlocked and my key on the reception table. Which they did. And, like, there was at least the computer there on the reception and who knows what else to steal, but apparently that was a good neighborhood. Needless to say, there were no checks whatsoever regarding the breakfast.

I recently had a Parisian-Bucharestian guest, and we visited a local farmer's store together. Said store is just an open room with goods stacked on shelves, a piggy bank for a cash register and a glass full of change, and no surveillance or security whatsoever. My guest was more than slightly surprised by this being a workable system and still often asks me to confirm the continued existence of that store.

I've had some success with this trick even without upper-class signalling - just being tall-ish, not a visible minority, clean-cut and walking confidently is enough to pattern match with 'belongs here' about 90% of the time.

I'm not sure I would try this in Dubai, though. Risk of extrajudicial punishment if caught seems a bit high.

I had friends who got into the VIP section of the Country Music Awards by just flashing their college badges as though they were passes.

Nah worst that would happen is they kick you out. The stories of insane punishments are a myth.

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