Pushing the Panic Button
Sometimes we set off alarms without even knowing it.
The other day, my 2-year-old granddaughter was visiting us.
She’s bright, inquisitive, and has the unique skill of noticing things adults have long stopped seeing.
At some point, she wandered over to a shelf that’s well above her eye level.
Perched there is a small white box with a single button.
On it, in clear red letters, one word: Panic.
Yes, a real panic button, connected to our home alarm system. The kind that sends an instant signal to the police department.
We had no idea she’d found it.
We only discovered it when there was a knock at the door and two officers standing were standing there.
I thought about it later:
How often do we “hit the panic button” in life without even realizing it?
A careless word, a sharp tone, a misunderstanding, and suddenly, alarms are blaring in someone else’s world. We didn’t mean harm. We were just curious, distracted, or in our own head. But intent doesn’t erase impact.
It reminded me of a story a friend once told me.
He ran into a woman he hadn’t seen in years. She looked pregnant, so he congratulated her. Only to discover… she wasn’t pregnant. She had just put on weight.
He’d unknowingly not only hit her “panic button,” he hit his own as well!
That’s the thing , we often push people’s emotional panic buttons without realizing it.
A careless comment, a joke that misses, a question that stings.
We didn’t mean harm. We were just curious, distracted, or making conversation.
But intent doesn’t erase impact.
Maybe the takeaway is simple:
Before you push that button, literal or metaphorical - pause.
Ask if it’s necessary.
Because once the sirens start, it’s not so easy to unring them.
Summary: We can unintentionally trigger emotional alarms in ourselves and others. The lesson: pause before pushing any button, literal or metaphorical, because once set off, the impact can’t be easily undone.