[PLUG-TALK] While you're standing naked at the airport security gates ...

[Ryan Schlosser]

On 4/15/05, Rich Shepard <rshepard at appl-ecosys.com> wrote:
>    ... your identity, credit, medical history and other personal details are
> being stolen, along with those of hundreds of thousands more. Scary! Very
> scary!
> 
>        <http://www.theregister.com/2005/04/15/ralph_lauren_loses_data/>


Since this is plug talk, I can ramble a bit, right?  

For the last 9 months, I've sat in an office with a window viewing the
parking lot of an HSBC call center here in Lewisville, TX.  All the
HSBC employees drive above average nice cars - here is an informal
sampling as I look out the window right now - Yukon XL, Honda Element,
Dodge quad cab truck, honda prelude, Lexus, Toyota Camry, Acura TL,
Ford F150, another Prelude (these are all less than 3 years old).

One consistent thing I've noticed - the employees over there tend to
fit a demographic of late twenties, attractive & fit, nice cars.

As I understand it, they are all collectors - making sure people pay
their car payments on time, etc.  Their call center employees seem to
make a wee bit more than the call center employees where I work
(working on medical insurance claims).

About every 2 to 3 weeks, they put a huge party tent in the back of
the building and have all their people out for a music fest/barbecue.

My only real point to this is that it's a shame they are doing a poor
job of protecting personal data when they do seem to be taking such
good care of their employees.