We are living under false security. Has anyone noticed that in most professional buildings, hospitals, senior citizen housing, one must know code numbers to open doors?

What if lights went out and the door doesn’t open, or elevators won’t run? How does one get out of the place in an emergency situation?

Even in stores like Wal-Mart seem only have one exit. There should be exits at both ends – or sides – to make it easier for clientele to exit, and avoid walking a half-mile to do so, if some tragedy occurred. All this automation may be good, but how does one escape in case of fire, bomb or whatever, and these mechanisms no longer work?

Even computers wouldn’t function; how would one deploy armaments in war if one relies solely on computers? I would feel more secure if things worked manually. On 9/11, the buildings were too tall to allow escape. So many lives were lost. The smoke got to the victims as they were trying to go down the stairs. How come there were no outside fire escapes? Or outside elevators to get people to safety?

With everyone relying on computers for everything, I say we should have all important documentation on paper, i case something should happen. Floods, storms, etc. can cause havoc to our lives; a “Plan B” should be in place, and we should not wait for tragedy to occur first.

Gabrielle DeMoras, Lewiston

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