Years ago, I worked 3rd shift for a big manufacturing company. The company I worked for at the time was big enough to staff unarmed security guards around the clock to make sure nothing was stolen. The security guards would do roaming patrols of the massive property and multiple building complex. I worked in their IT support and would frequently interact with the security guards to get doors unlocked and when helping them with issues. I knew the 3rd shift security supervisor and a couple of the other security guards very well. However, they always seemed to have turnover and new security guards would frequently join the group. The new guards seemed to go through a break-in period where the more seasoned security guards would send them on weird and pointless missions.

One beautiful summer night, I had to walk down to the other building to fix a wireless scanner.  The building felt like a quarter mile away or at least it took 10-15 minutes to reach my destination while walking at a fast pace. The path I would take for the most part was not lit by any type of lighting but there was enough ambient light to still see a good distance. On the way back, I kept pulling the trigger on the spare wireless scanner I brought with me. The scanner would put out a red laser bean dot if you kept pressing the trigger. The laser beam was powerful enough to travel beyond what I could see. I kept trying to aim the scanner at certain objects and pulling the trigger to see if I could hit them with laser beam as I walked along.

On my walk back, I saw a new security guard trying to unlock a side door to a building about 25-50 yards away. Me being bored on my walk back decided to put the laser beam dot on the door handle to see if I could scare the new security guard. Sure enough it worked. He saw the little red dot moving on the door and rushed into the building. He tried to see where the dot was coming from but didn’t want to hang around to find out. At that moment, I received a phone call from the security supervisor. She casually asked what I was doing. I told her I was just messing with one of the new security guards with my laser and she laughed. As I am sure she had me on camera and watching the entire event. She was trying to decide whether to tell the new security guard or let him bob and weave between buildings until he got back to central security. Eventually, she called him on the radio to tell him while the other security guards in central had a good laugh while watching him on video.

In hindsight this might not have been the best thing to do while walking back but it certainly passed the time.