From: doug.bryce{at}sympatico.ca (Doug Bryce)

Wonder what would have happened if Ms. Olearcek had found the Flight
Simulator package herself and attempted to check out with it !!



On Fri, 9 Jan 2004 13:24:59 -0500, "John Beamish"
 wrote:

>It's true!
>http://www.recorder.com/Headlines/tuesday_basic.htm
>
>Question about flight simulator brings visit from police
>
>By VIRGINIA RAY
>Recorder Staff
>
>COLRAIN - An innocent inquiry to a Staples store clerk about a computer
>software program that teaches how to fly an airplane by instrumentation
>brought a surprise visit this holiday season to a local family from the
>state police.
>
>"At first, I felt a little angry and violated" about someone telling
>authorities about her inquiry, said Julie Olearcek, a 15-year Air Force
>Reserve pilot. "But now that time has gone by, I realize it may take someone
>like that, who's a little nervous, who may save the day." Olearcek's
>husband, Henry, is also a flier, currently on active duty, and frequently
>away from home these days.
>
>About a week before Christmas, Olearcek said the couple's 10-year-old son,
>who has flight simulation software and is keenly interested in learning to
>fly like his parents, commented that he'd have to wait until his dad retired
>to learn to fly by instruments. She went to Staples soon after and took her
>son to the office supply store, where he looked through the available
>software.
>
>"He was disappointed because there was military stuff, but it was all
>fighting stuff, so I asked the clerk, and he was alarmed by us asking how to
>fly airplanes and said that was against the law," Olearcek said.
"I said I
>couldn't imagine that, but, because (the clerk) was a little on edge ... I
>left." But "what saves us, is people are paying
attention," she said.
>
>Olearcek said she and her husband both were well aware that the Office of
>Homeland Security had raised the threat level during the holiday and of the
>generally increased terrorism alert following the Sept. 11 plane attacks.
>
>"And rightly so, this puts people on edge," she said.
>
>But she was taken aback by what happened next.
>
>"By 8 p.m., a state trooper was at my house," she said.
"At first, it was a
>little unnerving because it was pouring rain and my husband had just left
>... My son said he heard someone walking around outside and it startled him.
>We had put our Christmas tree in front of a sliding glass door and the
>trooper ended up tapping on the glass of that door and putting a flashlight
>in and it scared us."
>
>But Olearcek said she doesn't believe the trooper was intentionally trying
>to frighten her family. Nor does she blame the clerk for erring on the side
>of caution.
>
>"We all have to be aware," she said, not really even wanting
to speak of the
>incident on the record, but wanting to keep the record straight. "It's not
>just the people in uniform who have to be looking after this country. So
>when people see something out the ordinary, they pay attention. Maybe by the
>way we worded the question - who knows? - it triggered the individual.
>Still, if they had done their homework (at Staples) they would see I home
>school my children and am a frequent customer and have a teacher's ID on
>file."
>
>Olearcek said the trooper asked her if she had inquired about the software,
>and she said she had and showed him her military identification.
>
>"He was totally understanding, but protocol means he has to follow
through,"
>Olearcek said. "I immediately gave him my military ID and I had no problem
>giving it to him. At first I felt like, 'Wait a minute, this is America.'
>But we also have to understand it takes everybody to pay attention. At first
>I was a little frazzled with someone knocking on my window at 8:30 at night,
>but the bottom line is this is a civilian who has tried to do his best."
>
>Sgt. Donald Charpentier of the Shelburne Falls State Police barracks said
>police received a telephone call from the Staples manager "that a person had
>been looking for instructional videos regarding flying planes."
>
>"Those programs are quite common for entertainment and training, but he felt
>it was suspicious enough to warrant a call," Charpentier said. "We
>responded, and it turned out to be innocent enough; a person looking to buy
>a Christmas gift."
>
>Staples' spokesperson Sharyn Frankel said the employees were doing what they
>have been told to do.
>
>"After 9/11, our store associates were instructed that if they see something
>suspicious or out of the ordinary, they're to contact their managers and
>local authorities," Frankel said. "It's all about keeping our
associates and
>customers safe and this was out of the ordinary and kind of raised a red
>flag and they did what they thought was right."
>
>"Bottom line is we've all got to look out for each other, and I wasn't
>harmed," summed up Olearcek. "And what if it were the other
way around? It's
>going to take everyone in each town to look after one another."
>
>
>
>
>"Adam Flinton"  wrote in message
>news:3ffebe8f{at}w3.nls.net...
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/34776.html
>>
>> "A mother's enquiry about buying Microsoft Flight Simulator for her
>> ten-year-old son prompted a night-time visit to her home from a state
>> trooper.
>
>

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