Flashback to the 1980s, when the big data center where this pilot fish works is set up to keep security simple for both users and IT operations staff.
"We had a printer area accessible to users, a badge-locked door from the printers into the large raised-floor area, and a window into an adjacent room where the operations staff had their consoles," says fish.
"The second-shift cleaning crew was not issued a badge, so they always asked the operators for access from the printers onto the raised floor by ringing a doorbell beside the badge-locked door. The operators would glance out the window into the print area, recognize the cleaners and release the door.
"One evening, a new cleaner understandably thought he had to ask equivalent permission to come off the raised floor, so he pressed a similar push-button near that door to ask to get out -- a large red button.
"Instantly, an untoward event occurred.
"The next day a new sign appeared above the Emergency Power Off button on the inside of that door frame. It read 'Emergency use only' and 'Solo en caso de emergencia.'"
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