On one of our vacations to Washington, D.C., I decided to show my wife, Julia, the National Security Agency, where I used to work. So, we drove to Fort Meade, MD and pulled into the parking lots behind the barracks where I used to live. These overlook the NSA, so she had a nice view of them. Julia, wanting to have a vision of the NSA for her personal scrapbook took out her camera to take a snap shot. Note: The NSA is very, very sensitive about photographs of its buildings. Did I mention very, very sensitive?
I said to her, "Honey, you might not want to actually take a picture of the NSA. They tend to get a little uptight about that."
She said, "Oh, c'mon. It's just a picture of where you used to work. They won't really care." And she snapped a picture. And she left the flash on. The moment she did, I saw across the parking lot two federal police cruisers take off. So, I decided it was time to go on about our business. Before we got out of the parking lot, the federal NSA police were right there. They pulled along side and rolled down their windows. I rolled down mine, more than a little sheepishly.
Police Officer, "Do you work here?"
Me, "Um. I used to."
Police Officer, "You know the rules."
Me, "Yes."
Police Officer, "Give me the camera." I gave him the camera. He opened it. Took out the film. Destroyed the film. Gave us back the camera. Wished us a good day. For some reason, Julia sometimes doesn't recognize the reality of what I tell her. It was a different life, but I think she takes it a little more seriously now. Not much more seriously, though. She'll probably try to take a picture the next time we go, too.
The National Security Agency - Stock Photo, not of my collection, making, taking, or retaining.
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