17
Nov
2014
Nov
2014
Safety – It’s a word we throw around these days without any real thought as to what it actually captures in how we feel. For instance, when I hear the word “safety”, I immediately think of my mother yelling at me to get off the roof – I mean come on, I was 6 years old, what was so dangerous about being on the roof (apparently everything)? Or looking both ways when I cross the street. Or those stranger-danger classes in junior school, which were supposed to teach you about being safe around people you didn’t know, but just ended up making it that much more difficult to approach a girl for date (yes women scared the pants off me ‘til about the tenth grade). Safety when discussing properties within Woodlands Residential Estate, however, means something slightly more evolved.
Now I’m not saying encourage your children to blindly cross the road without care nor concern because the nice man in the car with the blacked-out windows offered to take them to meet Optimus Prime (yes he exists). Nor am I saying it’s a good idea to let your six year old out onto the roof (I mean it wasn’t a bad idea, I only came away with, like, 12 stitches). But I am saying that there do exist places where you would have the help of those whose job it is to ensure the safety and security (security being a unique aspect in its own right that will be touched upon shortly) of both you and your family. Short of barging into your house to stop your child clambering out of the upstairs window because the roof looked “fun” (also apparently not a valid excuse as to why one should venture toward the heavens), these men and women deployed as part of the safety aspect of Woodlands will ensure your utmost peace of mind, void of fear and concern. And it doesn't stop there, as said care and concern for your children extends to the Schools Woodlands, their priority being the safe up-bringing of your loved ones.
The difference is, you see, between security personnel, and those security personnel that find themselves in the employment of Woodlands, is that they understand the human side of safeguarding. To them, security does not simply mean “gates, walls, electrified fences (getting to those in a second), but inclusive of that description is the idea of it being a mind-set to those that require it. That is, what is the point of safety is one does not feel safe (similarly, what is the point of me donning the green and gold sweater and getting my hopes up if the Springboks are getting their behinds handed to them by the likes of Ireland, I mean come). Safety is as much a feeling as it is a mental concept. For example, you want to know, be absolutely sure, that if anything does happen within the walls of the enclosure (highly unlikely, but I’ll play devil’s advocate for the time being), you are going to get timely response by individuals who respect and understand your concern yet still act in a calm and professional manner in dealing with said situation. You want to sleep knowing that everything is being done, in using pro-active, instead of a reactive methods, to defend your homestead and those that dwell within, that static walls and unmoving gates complimented by South Africa’s finest, moving about the premises in beautiful, deadly harmony, as though of one mind.
Perhaps I should clarify something – yes, these guys and girls are the baddest of the bad when it comes to matters of security, but one should not come away with an impression of “unapproachability”. The philosophy behind safeguarding at Woodlands is that in numbers we draw our strength. The community of Woodlands, be they dentists, doctors or golfers of the Woodhill Country Club and Golf Course, are just as involved in the continued prosperity of the area. Security guards are beyond friendly when conversing with residents, and appreciate all the help that they receive from vigilant homeowners. Such is the bond between man and soldier that it is as though there exists no difference between them, each willing to go the extra mile to ensure the other’s safety. All for one and one for all, if you will.
And yes, I did say that I would elaborate a little further in terms of the physical barriers that safeguard a community along with said valiant and ever-brave men and women. So here it goes, starting with no doubt the most noticeable of all – large and imposing (“large and imposing” being the euphemism of the century) walls stand as a primary defence against the ills of the unknown, topped with very, very, (very) high voltage electrical wiring – to give you an idea, that scene in Jurassic park where fence is reactivated to keep the Tyrannosaurus at bay. And yes, Woodlands could hand a T-rex. Night-vision equipped high-resolution cameras remain strewn across the grounds, their eyes undimmed by darkness, giving incredible insight to those that man the CCTV monitors 24 hours a day. Motion sensors deployed about the grounds at strategic locations means that nothing short of human flight would allow anyone to move about undetected. And even if you could fly (and if you can you really need to teach me), roving patrols, their eyes as if those of a hawk, would spot your any attempt to breach the perimeter.
So, in closing, if you are still not convinced as to the security capabilities of Woodlands, and seek somewhere just a tad bit safer – Helms Deep is always free,
