Derek left home with a spring in his step. Life was good. He smiled. The CCTV camera caught the smile and Derek walked on. At the pedestrian crossing, he pressed the button and the red wait light came on. Derek waited; he was good like that; but not that good. No car was coming and he crossed on the red. The two PCSOs gave him a dirty look and one spoke into his radio. “Can’t be an offence, at least not yet,” thought Derek and walked on. Behind him he heard the beeping that went with the green man. The driver who had to stop gave him an unnecessarily dirty look.
Derek hardly read the anti-smoking poster on the bus shelter. His bus came eventually and the bus CCTV clocked him as he boarded. Derek bought a ticket, hardly noticing the sign that warned him that the bus company did not tolerate abusive behaviour. Derek wasn’t the sort of man to abuse anyone. He had not thought of smoking until he read the sign telling him it was illegal.
Derek looked about him and refrained from distracting the driver while the bus was in motion. He then realised that binge drinking, whatever that was, was not for him and seriously contemplated getting a flu jab. The woman behind him had failed to read the notice telling her to sneeze into a tissue and chuck it.
At the shopping centre, Derek noticed the no-cycling signs, the cyclists and the police outreach van. He was grateful for the advice to have his bike post-coded, not that he had one, and wondered if the cyclists, invisible to the police officers, had done it.
Derek was noticed again on the shop’s CCTV, as he was by the public CCTV on his way in. Derek had not thought of shoplifting but was pleased to learn that the shop always prosecuted. The CCTV camera followed him out. Derek had neither bought nor shoplifted.
Bright red and white, plastic barriers surrounded the deserted hole in the pavement and the camera watched as Derek failed to fall down it.
The nice lady just wanted a few minutes of his time. She was doing a survey for the Council. Could she have his age and postcode? Derek thought not and she thought her feet were hurting and surely it must be later than ten fifteen.
Derek went home. The CCTV cameras tracked him all the way there. He sat down and sighed, safe in the knowledge that they knew he had committed no crime today.
Copyright © 2008 Rob Richardson. All Rights Reserved.