I walked into Annapolis Mall yesterday to kill some time between getting shots of the mall for a story and shooting a press conference with Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley. Actually I really just wanted to hit the bathroom, but since I had almost two hours, I spent a good deal of time doing the random-mall-wandering thing.

On the way in I took notice of something old but newly peculiar. The two doors slid open as I approached, thus allowing me to enter without any effort of my own. Now this is certainly not new technology, but it struck me in a new way. The doors have stickers that say in big print “Caution: Automatic Door.” Now these doors slide out of your way, not toward or away from you. There is no danger of them hitting you or anyone else who approaches.

Granted, there are the same types of doors that do swing one way or another, and thus you need to be cautious so you don’t get hit by a door going two miles per hour. But in this case, what’s the danger? Am I going to be shocked that they move out of the way and have a heart attack? Am I going to think there is some divine intervention that has led me to this mall and the doors opening is a sign that I am in the right place? (note: I am a dork, and thus enjoy that I just used a gerund).

We live in a pretty technically advanced society and should expect that a simple thing like an automatic door has the potential of existing. If you approach a door that has a little round sensor dealie above it, and that door opens without any effort on by you or any other person present, it was automatic and you should say “Hey, an automatic door, rock that no effort sheez.”

Warn me about doors that may swing at me and risk striking my fragile self. Warn me about the possible expiration of my milk. Warn me about the speed limit dropping to 25 mph in 1000 feet. Don’t warn me about things that cannot have a negative impact on my life. If each mall saved just one “Caution” sticker a year, we could reduce our reliance on foreign oil by 20 percent by 2081. Do it for our grandchildren.