The Security Post (with rant)

[neadods]

I've lost track of how long ago I promised a post about what it's like to live in a world full of security classifications and what TV (particularly RTD) gets wrong and right. Finally, I'm writing it.

Comments

[taffimai]

Yes, to all of this. I think it's something people don't quite get if they didn't grow up with friends who did not know what their parents did for a living.

[tamnonlinear]

I once quipped that living in DC meant knowing a lot of folks who couldn't tell you what they did for a living.

A friend of mine said that it's because most of them don't know for themselves anymore.

[neadods]

"The secrecy of my job prevents me from knowing what I'm doing."

Actually, I once had one of those - I was asked to write up how to connect two boxes together. When I asked what they did and how they worked, they basically said "you don't have a need to know."

[starmalachite]

My late husband (i.e., not the one you've met) was a programmer for DARPA and frequently had to write code to perform the exact same task, only with databases. Yes, without knowing any characteristics of either set of data.

Many couples around here follow a version of "Don't ask, don't tell" -- the one who doesn't work for Agency X doesn't ask, the one who does doesn't tell.

[neadods]

I think it's something people don't quite get if they didn't grow up with friends who did not know what their parents did for a living.

They don't. That was pretty clear the first time I ranted about Tosh. But when you don't know what your parents do, or your friends - hell, even some of your coworkers - the world *changes.*