How random is random ?!

2004-09-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

At the EXL Services office at Noida on the capital's outskirts, all visitors have to dip into a covered box and take out a ball while entering and leaving the building.

If you pick a white ball, security personnel will check only your bag. A pink ball means you're subjected to a body search.

[ http://www.nasscom.org/artdisplay.asp?Art_id=3371 ]
[Originally read in ZdNet, link for which is now broken] [ Search for this article ]

One of my colleagues was commented, "If any crooked intruders enter the building, must have luck".

Leaving security to luck ?! What if the security had a suspicion, but the person picked a white ball. The suspect can indeed walk free. Or is it something more ??

What if the box has 2 inner boxes with white and pink balls and the security guard has the controls to slide the boxes horizontally when a suspect approaches, make him/her pick the pink ball.

|--------  --------|
|      | oo|| xx|  |
| <--> |ooo||xxx|  |
|      |---||---|  |
|      OO------OO  |
|                  |
|------------------|

Can this be an excuse for not giving reasons (from the security guards side) for suspecting someone, and doing a complete check ?

This moves the issue from "How dare the security guard suspect me ?" to "Oh! It is just random selection and I am just not lucky".

Well, just some random thoughts.

Sadugudu

How random is random ?!