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A humorous update for those of you who are still interested.
The latest example of how this compulsion has gotten me into (not so) hot water: I was asked along on a on-site visit to a new building on campus where some new laboratory space is being created. We were asked to visit the labs and give our feedback on what the building had to offer. Unofficially, we were also looking for reasons *not* to move there ourselves as we really don't want to change our lab surroundings. Fortunately for me, as you'll see in a minute, our tour group consisted only of me and two of my colleagues. We toured around these huge new labs and discussed what we thought of them and whether we could do work there if we were forced to move. My two co-workers moved off in search of the autoclave facilities for the floor that we were on. I was poking around myself at the front of one of the labs.
Now this building is brand new and supposed to be very well equipped for everything a modern lab needs. The area where the lab work will be done is still empty of any equipment, but the common areas are plumbed and wired and ready to go. Unfortunately, everything is not well labelled just yet. Hence my friends search for the autoclave. So I'm standing in this large open doorway to a common area hallway. I spy this rubber handled stainless steel lever partially recessed in the wall to my right. Just below the lever, I see a stainless steel panel flush mounted into the wall. Don't get ahead of me here! I am thinking to myself that this might be some new feature of this new building, right. Maybe a trash disposal chute. You pull the lever down to open, close the panel, raise the lever, and your trash is wisked down to a central trash area. Sounds cool and, yes, gets my curiousity up. This unlabelled lever MUST be tested. So, I reach out and grab hold. A quick pull downward....
I hear a WHOOOSH sound from above me. A split second later, roughly 10 gallons of water courses over my head. I was totally soaked. My shirt was clinging to my body, my hair was plastered to my head, my socks were wet! I reach back for the lever and push it back up into the off position. I had just discovered the EMERGENCY shower for the new labs. My colleagues came back around the corner at that second.
"What the... What happened!"
"Just testing the plumbing," I replied. "It works."
It was toward the end of the workday, thankfully. So, now I have found that unlabeled buttons and levers can have just as dangerous of an attraction to me as those labelled, "Do Not Touch."
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You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
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