Don't Ignore Caution Signs. They Are There For A Reason.

I'll admit, I don't always take warning or caution signs seriously. I think it is because often these kinds of signs are over used or not actually relevant in the situation. For example how many times have you seen a wet floor sign posted and the floor was perfectly dry? How many times have you seen a street sign saying a lane would be closed ahead only to find out that the lane was actually open?  

It's true sometimes the signs are not always accurate, but you should still take them seriously because they are usually there for a reason even if it doesn't seem apparent at the time. For example a floor might appear dry but maybe there was a spill around there recently and it is still slick even if it doesn't look like it. For that sign that said the lane would be closed, it is likely the lane was just opened or it will be closed shortly so they don't want traffic in that lane.

Twice recently I ignored warning signs that were posted and I ended up paying the price. The first was a sign on an emergency exit door that said an alarm will sound if it is opened. I was pretty sure I had seen this door opened before and no alarm went off so I figured the sign was just there for show and that it would be fine to open the door. So I open it and guess what? An alarm went off! So I had to explain to the management that it was just me and apologize for the inconvenience of setting off the alarm.

The other example happened when a section of stairs was blocked off because the carpeting was being redone. Again I ignored the warning and thought it would be ok to go on the stairs even though the carpeting was taken up. Little did I know a soapy substance had been applied to it to get the adhesive off and it was very slippery! Well sure enough I did not expect that and as soon as I took my first step, I went right down on by butt. I ended up getting some scratches and also messed up my clothes for the day.

Both of these situations could have been avoided if I had actually taken the warning signs seriously. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, which unfortunately tends to be the best way to learn. I will try to pay more attention to caution signs from now on as I realize now, they are usually put in place for good reason.