The other day I was working on decommissioning a solar system for a very large store. That is just a fancy way of saying the store no longer wanted the old system, and everything had to come off the roof. My role was straightforward: make sure everything was disconnected and safe so the crew removing it wouldn’t get hurt.
I have done this work thousands of times. Flip the breakers, lock out and tag out, double check the meter. Same process, same motions. It was an early morning and I had already driven two and a half hours to the site. I was tired, running on routine.
That is when I saw it.
The meter flashed 480. At first, I thought there was a decimal point before the 4. Maybe just a speck of dirt on the screen. I checked again. Same number: 480 volts.
I went back inside and looked closer. That is when I realized something that made my stomach drop. On this particular switchgear, left was ON and right was OFF. The opposite of what I was used to. My habit had told me one thing, but the reality was completely different.
One small assumption. One moment of complacency. And it could have cost me my life.
The Danger of Routine
Our brains love routine. They are wired for it. Drive the same roads, do the same jobs, follow the same patterns. It conserves energy, keeps us moving, and makes life feel manageable. That wiring goes all the way back to when we needed to save energy in case a saber tooth tiger came around the corner.
The problem is that routine also makes us blind. It lulls us into complacency. We stop noticing the details. We stop questioning the obvious. We forget to look up and see if something has changed.
On the job site, complacency can kill. In life, it can do the same. Maybe not with live voltage, but in quieter ways: we lose sight of the people around us, we stop appreciating the little things, we forget to check whether the life we are living is the one we actually want.
A Call to Pay Attention
That morning taught me more than just a safety lesson. It reminded me to slow down. To check twice. To not assume that just because I have done something a thousand times, I know everything about it.
The truth is, we all need that reminder.
Do not let routine make you blind. Lift your head up. Notice the details. Pay attention to the people you love. Take the time to enjoy the small things. And most importantly, make sure your “off” is really OFF.
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