Mea Culpa

Two lessons came my way at work today.

 I am on a hiring committee and was in a conference room accessed by entering a security code into a keypad on a locked door. The first interview had gone well and the second interview was in progress. I placed a hand on the conference table to pull myself closer and felt a small plastic box mounted to the bottom of the table. I was sitting close to a table leg and assume it was part of the leg mount but it seemed strange since the plastic felt unsubstantial. I felt a hole slipped a finger in and touched a small soft easily pressed button. Strange! I knew I had to look under the table after the interview is finished.

 More questions were asked of the applicant and answers given. Then a knock on the locked door. I was sitting closest so I opened the door and greeted two campus police who asked "Did anyone press the panic button?" That solved the mystery of the plastic box with a recessed button!

They indicated they didn't mind responding to false alarms and said the same thing happened last week in parking services.

Today's lessons: First, keep my hands away from the bottom of conference tables; should I idly touch one and discover a small plastic box then keep all fingers from any and all openings. Second, when in parking services complaining about a ticket be sure to be extra nice to the clerks.