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0 pointsapozem5y ago0 comments

In high school, I drove a 1993 Toyota Tercel. It was a functional, reliable car, but it had no keyfob to lock the doors remotely.

Getting out of your car, pressing the lock button on the inside of the driver's side door, and shutting the door are all routine, boring actions that make it easy to forget your keys inside the car. The keys can go in all kinds of places as you climb out of the car - jacket pocket, pants pocket, center console. It is very easy to lock your keys in your car.

I quickly learned to hold my keys in one hand, say out loud, "Keys in hand," and then lock the door with the other hand.

This technique is perfect for any repetitive action that could go wrong with non-trivial consequences, and there's lots of that in everyday life.

0 comments

wruza5y ago

I'm always using the "phone keys cigarettes money" mantra together with patting on my pockets before opening any outside door.

GauntletWizard5y ago

I wake up in the mornings with "Shit Shower Shave" and leave the house with "Wallet Watch Testicles Spectacles". Simple mnemonics work, doubly so if you actually say them out loud and check them each off.

Symbiote5y ago

It is normally "spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch", since that would traditionally make the Catholic sign of the cross.

But maybe you're a Satanist, in which case the reverse order probably makes sense.

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encom5y ago

I do that exact some thing, and I haven't smoked in 3 years. The downside is that if I'm supposed to remember to bring something, in addition to those 3 things, I'm extremely likely to forget it. If it's super duper important, I tie it to the door handle.

blackboxlogic5y ago

To remember to bring a physical object, I leave my keys on it. Downside, sometimes people will bring my keys to me when they find them in strange places, like the fridge.

scott_s5y ago

That’s me approaching a blue mailbox with my letter to send in one hand, and my keys in the other.

edgyquant5y ago

I just put a spare behind the license plate

Gene_Parmesan5y ago

Definitely a good idea. In the subject of the analogy (software incidents) I think both should be done -- a regular and habitual focus on important/high risk commands via procedure, and preparations for the time when the inevitable still happens because people are people and it's impossible to fully predict all potential sources of unintended consequences. A lack of habitual focus when important consequences are at stake could lead to an over-reliance on the safety nets, and you really don't want your safety nets becoming routine. Otherwise you'll need safety nets for the safety nets.

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