“Never touch the big red button,” was the refrain Andrea Turner heard every day. It was always said with the same important tone. “Never touch the big red button.”
This continued for many years. Andrea grew into the job, gaining experience and responsibility.
Only once, during a graveyard shift, was she was tempted to push the button. Her finger moved slowly towards it. She flicked open the safety cover and held, poised to depress the key. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it and pulled back, remembering the command.
The urge never hit her again. Over time systems changed and were upgraded but the button, and the message, stayed the same. She spent the rest of her working days dutifully following orders and passing on her knowledge to the new recruits.
“Don’t press the big red button,” she would tell them.
One day a trainee spoke up. “Ma’am, what does the big red button do?”
Andrea stopped and though for a moment. “I don’t know. It never occurred to me to ask.”
She went to the back of the room and opened the large filing cabinet. She dug through to the bottom and found the proper manual. She blew off the dust and turned to the page detailing the operation of the console.
“Huh,” she noted. Then she turned back to the trainee.
“You’d really, really better not touch it.”
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