Read Between The Signs

I work at a hospital, and the charting can be a bit tedious, but fortunately, we are provided with Dictaphones that plug into the computer and save a ton of time.

Problem: there isn’t enough for all the residents, and so one day, after yet another morning of finding mine vanished, I finally decide to cross the hospital to the IT lair and ask for an additional one.

On the way from the elevator to their door (about twenty metres), I am greeted by FOUR printed signs listing their opening hours in big, bold, red letters, tactically placed where everyone HAS to see them, including at the right of the door, at the left of the door, and ON the door.

I’m let inside and greeted by a dude who seems to wish to be anywhere but here, and while he fetches my query (while commenting on how he may not have any left, then after finding one that it’s far from new), I take a look around.

The space between the door and the counter is tiny, like, not even two by two metres, and yet I count FIVE signs explaining that to open the door you need to press the button right next to it.

That already is wild enough to make me raise an eyebrow, but then I turn and see two signs with big red arrows pointing at the switch and yet another sign explaining what to do.

When the guy finally comes back, I jokingly ask if they get a lot of people who can’t open the door, and his face lights with a genuine smile (and relief, I think) as he explains to me that yes, every day they get people trying to pull and pull on the door, not noticing the switch with “open the door” printed on it.

And apparently even with all these signs they still get some regularly.

I was half-tempted to ‘forget’ to press the switch on my way out.