simple observation

as i was walking out the lobby doors at my bank this morning i noticed a tape measure lining the door starting at 4' & going as high as 6' 6''. i've been in & out of these lobby doors many times before & i have never noticed this "measuring device." i thought it was a clever idea for the bank to install such a setup. the idea of course is that if someone robs the place; bank employees can tell how tall the robber is as he/she exits the lobby doors. i'm sure the police have found this device effective when trying to obtain a physical description of the robber. my mom worked at a bank throughout her professional career & i recall her telling me about classes that the bank employees would have to attend to learn how to remember things such as someones eye color, any significant body markings (tattoo, scars, nose rings, etc.), what he/she was wearing, & height. when an event such as a robbery occurs, people usually respond with comments like "it all happened so fast, i don't remember a thing." while the tape measure on the door can't tell the police the color of a person's eyes or what they were wearing (that's what all the cameras are for) they tape measure should help prevent mistaking a 5' 6'' guy for a 6' 1'' guy.

beyond finding the tape measure approach pretty slick, i was disappointed that i had never noticed it before. true, they may have just put it up (i didn't bother to ask anyone). however, i doubt it. it's amazing to me all the things that we "see" everyday, yet we don't actually realize that they are there. maybe we just move so fast through our day-to-day activities that we don't slow down long enough to notice things. or maybe we are just so focused, that we don't let every little thing distract us. my general theory is that there is so much "noise" in this world (text messages coming in, vmails being left, phone ringing, blinking & rotating billboards, cars flying by, etc. that we are just to distracted to pick up on these little things.

as you progress through your day today, attempt to identify just one thing that you've probably seen a hundred times, but never noticed before.