Always Watching: You’re Probably Being Recorded

I remember years ago when I operated my cleaning and restoration company, and at times worked with an assistant, also known as a helper. An appropriate name, “helper,” because they sure were handy.

We enjoyed the camaraderie. We kept each other company, told a clean joke or two, appreciated an intelligent conversation or two, and did a great job. A typical day was jam-packed with work, but it went by fast, and we enjoyed the challenge.

Back then, just like now, you were compelled to be careful about how loud you were and how much fun you had on the job. After all, there were people nearby. They could hear you. Never did you want to portray an unprofessional attitude.

Things have changed a bit. Now, it’s not just about your customers hearing you working in the next room or upstairs. They very well could be watching your every move.

We now live in the age of surveillance, some of it quite sophisticated, and most of it amateurish, yet very effective. From recording devices to nanny cams, to name a few, what you do and how you do it may be captured for future review.

I recall a story from a carpet cleaner who showed up on a job and the customer said, “Watch this video of someone we hired to work in our home.” This was a repeat customer and the cleaner wondered, “Did I pick my nose or something when I was here last?”

It wasn’t that at all. The video showed a pest control company tech come into the home through an unlocked door per arrangement since the homeowner wasn’t home, set down his sprayer, go off camera while he went into the kitchen, come back into view with a stolen soda, sit down, and turn on the TV and enjoy the spoils of his raid.

After a few minutes, the tech filled out an invoice, dropped it on the table, and left.

Hmmm…. quite a nice — and dishonest — profit margin on this job.

Although you would never do something so unethical as charging for work you never performed — not to mention stealing something even as “innocent” as a soda — what you must appreciate is how your every movement can be recorded.

Notice those doorbell cameras? They watch and record you walking up to the door. Anything you say or do is probably being recorded. Watch your comments.

And while you clean a carpet or dry a house after a flood? Surveillance cameras, often connected to the internet and recording you and what you are doing, are common.

Behave. You just never know. Someone could be watching you.