Open attitude may help us cope with the unexpected

I couldn't make this up. It was sent to me by a reader and it remains one of my all time favorite stories.

Seems a state prison needed to add a new maximum security building. Trying to create the "prison of the 21st century," and not incidentally save on personnel costs, the designers automated every conceivable function. Dozens of previously hands-on tasks now would be performed with the push of a button.

Even the cell door could be opened and closed by a single guard who observed the comings and goings of inmates through an array of video cameras.

Of course, not everything went as planned. Sometimes circuits didn't work, equipment malfunctioned, complex controls needed adjustment, and so on. Let's face it, you just expect those things with a new facility.

But there was one problem they didn't expect: The first time they used the newly installed intercom system, all the cell doors popped open.

Though this was probably a pleasant surprise to the inmates, I suspect it was a bit disconcerting to the guards, especially since their numbers had been reduced because of all the new gadgets.

There are any number of lessons in such a story: Don't trust technology; "Simple" usually isn't; Don't work for the state of Illinois, or whatever. Let me take a different slant, though.

It seems to me no matter how good our plans are, no matter what we do or how well we do it, we cannot anticipate, prepare for or avoid what life throws our way.

Granted, sometimes our dilemmas are of our own making. At our best we humans are remarkably fallible. There is not a one of us who doesn't have a disaster or two in our past, present or future.

Certainly, the cell door surprise fits this category.

On the other hand, often these things just happen. The prison official who pressed the intercom button that inadvertently opened the doors probably had nothing to do with designing or installing the system. The guards on duty had not chosen to be at work at that particular time. These things just happen.

Life throws in its two cents every now and then as well. A snowstorm, a child's illness, a traffic jam, a vacation day - any of these might have played a part in who was, and wasn't, confronted with the problem of the malfunctioning doors.

There is a happy ending to this story. No prisoners misbehaved, no guards panicked, and the system soon was set right. Everything was OK (at least until someone pressed another button).

I'm not suggesting we shouldn't do everything we can to anticipate, prepare for or avoid problems. I am suggesting that perhaps the most valuable attitude we can develop is simply that of anticipating the unanticipated, remaining open to change, and being flexible in the way we plan for and live out our lives.

• Dr. Ken Potts is on the staff of Samaritan Counseling Center in Naperville and Downers Grove. He is the author of "Mix Don't Blend, A Guide to Dating, Engagement and Remarriage With Children."