The safety check that saved me last week

I was about to tap into a live panel—just a routine test, nothing special—when I paused. Not because of protocol, but because the air felt wrong. Like the wire itself was holding its breath. I double-checked the lockout tag. It was there. But then I saw the scuff on the cover plate, the one I’d missed yesterday. Took five minutes to trace it back to a misaligned switch. If I’d gone in blind, I’d have been fried. Now I keep that plate in my tool bag. Not for work. For memory.