Back in 2000 I was in an airport in Thailand and it stuck me that I felt unusually
happy and calm for being in an airport. I took me a few minutes to figure out
what it was, then it hit me. It was the lack of the constant refrain
``please do not leave bags unattended, ..., please do not leave bags unattended, ..., .''
Another example, UT Austin has a pretty good shuttle system that goes around the city
to transport the students to and from the university, but every time the shuttle bus makes
a stop it loudly broadcasts ``please do not cross in front of bus ... por favor, no
cruce enfrente de autobus.'' I have heard undergraduates who live near shuttle stops
complain that this actually wakes them up in the morning. One could argue that getting
undergraduates out of bed a little earlier in the morning isn't such a bad thing, but
that is beside the point.
We need to build safety into our systems, but our systems will be much
more effective (and a lot less annoying) when we learn to deliver the safety information to
only those who need it when they need it, instead of constantly crying
Wolf, Wolf, Wolf,...,Lobo, Lobo, Lobo,..., Wolf, Wolf,......