October-November 2001 Edition

Not Designed for Insanity   by Sam Adhikari 212-775-0006 starts ringing sharp at 5.15PM. "This is visitor's desk calling, John Henson wants to go up and visit Sysoft Center for Software Excellence. Please send him up. Your name please. Sam Adhikari. Thank you sir, we are issuing a badge for suite 2265." A bank of six elevators served the first through the twenty four floors in tower one of the World Trade Center. When John and others walk in, we start our eCommerce and eBusiness class at 5.30 PM sharp. Compared to our New Jersey office at Iselin, the twenty second floor of the One World Trade Center (tower with the TV antenna on top) was quiet and an excellent environment for teaching and working. The twenty second floor housed the security of the whole complex and we used to feel safe. You cannot imagine, how strong the security was. I had a parking spot below tower one. I and other Sysoft employees, who could park in the basement had to go through all kinds of security clearance and other formalities. When Ken, the manager at the parking division gave us the parking gadgets, we were told how to alarm authorities, through a special code in case we were car-jacked and someone in our cars forced us to enter the underground parking facility at a gun point. The entrance to the underground garage had a guard and Ken placed an E-ZPass like sensing device in the windshield of our cars. The parking garage was divided in levels and each level was marked red, yellow etc. I had my spot in yellow zone. Parking authorities provided a special white electronic card. At the entrance, the sensors would read the devices in my car and I have to flash the special white electronic card against a box on the side. When the two matched, the entrance opens. The entrance leads to a half raised road. That piece comes down as an authenticated vehicle comes close. Finally a garage door automatically opens up based on other security mechanisms. Security cameras are all over and I always felt like zillion eyes are watching me in the garage and on the way to my parking spot. When Sysoft decided to expand to NY city in 1999, I recommended the World Trade Center. We waited six months before we could move in. The Port Authority built our suit from scratch for us. I never had a clue about the kind of security we have to live through. Every employee has a photo badge. The badge is electronically coded. The badge is issued based on certain criteria. Some people has the privilege to go to the underground garage for parking. They must to go through severe security check. Some have the privilege of escorting strangers. Some have the privilege to stay off hours beyond 7AM to 6PM. I have all of these privileges coded and labeled in my badge. I can now tell you how it felt if you decided to really live in the World Trade Center eighteen hours a day. Sysoft is relatively a small company. However, we are aggressive and growth oriented. I literally lived in that building. I used to report to work from home around 8 AM in the morning. I worked seven days a week and most of the days I will leave for my home around 2 AM, deep at night. Sometimes I went back and forth between our NJ and NY facility. Do you realize that every single visitor in that facility whoever had to go up even for two minutes were issued a photo id! Every visitor is required to bring their driver's license or some other photo id. Otherwise, only a few who had escort privileges to bring them up past the security. Temporary visitor passes were not valid beyond 6PM or in the week ends. That means John Hanson cannot go downstairs for a coffee or a drink after the class starts at 5.30 PM. When we took a break, I had to personally escort the students down into the lobby. The lobby of the building one and two were fabulous and attached to Marriott hotel. The complex was like a town by itself. It had no less than thirty restaurants, hundreds of shops, the subway and all you can think of. When I talked to someone from NJ and invited him to our office in the Trade Center, I used to say - "do not worry, take NJ Transit Train to Newark and then the Path train. You will not see the sky when you reach the NY city. You will have to go up a few escalators and elevator to reach our office. And, you know what, it is safest place on the earth - I know it from experience." I remember, one day in the morning, I was starting to teach the eBusiness for Manager course (Sysoft 6000) and many students were missing. I called our NJ office and asked if something was wrong, if these corporate students got the information about the class time, date and place. After a little investigation, I realized most of the students were stuck downstairs because there was a huge queue at the visitor's desk. It was normal at the World Trade Center to wait thirty to forty five minutes at certain time of the day to get a visitor's badge issued. Sometimes we sent the visitor or students' list of names in advance to the building security. That eased the process of issuing badges. Bring equipments and taking the same out was not easy at any time of the day. Bob Schutz, the building manager explained the process of filling and securing the property passes. It was an interesting life. I used to take many visitors to the "Windows on the World" - the world class restaurant at the top most floor of tower one. We enjoyed most when they asked us to wait in a sofa placed on an elevated platform. What a magnificent view it was. Many of my friends tells me "That is where I proposed to my wife." There are so many ethnic food places around the World Trade Center, you never get bored. All kind of food is available at any time of the day. Yes, even at 2AM when I used to start for home. The Duane Reade in the lobby was open twenty four hours and was my best friend at times. It was sometimes uncanny to go down to the garage at 2 AM. But no matter what time of the day or night I go down, many guards securing each entrance gate were there vigilant like hawks. Believe me, guards at the World Trade Center were not allowed to sit during their shift hours. There was no lack of security at the World Trade Center - believe me, I lived through it - almost eighteen hours a day for years. The security mechanism in that building was near perfect. However, it was not designed to fight insanity. What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.