#institutional language

There is a particular comfort

in instructions meant for someone else.

Any person observing this red light

please advise maintenance electrician immediately.

A sentence built for urgency,

for clarity,

for a world in which signals

are noticed, reported,

and dealt with.

But most of us learn early

that we are not authorised personnel.

That even when something glows red

inside us,

red like lava,

burning hot,

we wait.

We assume someone else is responsible.

Doors stay locked.

Warnings stay posted.

The machinery hums on,

unattended.

It isn’t neglect.

It’s conditioning.

Some systems are designed

so that no one ever quite feels

permitted to intervene.

(Photo: d.)