Railway Crossing Guard Has Existential Crisis After Gate Malfunction Eliminates His Only Purpose

Level crossing attendant Morris Barrier, who has manually operated the gates at the Elm Street railroad crossing for thirty years, was plunged into existential crisis this week after the installation of an automated barrier system that performs his job 'faster, more reliably, and without requiring a pension.' 'For thirty years, I lowered the gate when the train came and raised it when the train left,' Barrier said, standing beside the new automated system, which does exactly this without human intervention. 'That was my contribution to society. The gate goes down. The gate goes up. That was me. Now it's a sensor and a motor.' Barrier has not technically been terminated; the railway has reassigned him to 'supervise' the automated system, a role that consists of watching the gate lower and raise itself approximately 45 times per day. 'Supervising implies the possibility of intervention,' Barrier noted. 'But the system has a 99.97 percent reliability rate. In six weeks, I have intervened zero times. I am supervising perfection. There is nothing for me to do.' The crisis deepened when Barrier attempted to justify his presence by performing maintenance on the automated system, only to discover it is serviced remotely. 'I tried to oil it,' he said. 'It doesn't need oil. I tried to adjust the timing. The timing is satellite-calibrated. I suggested a manual backup mode. They said the manual backup is a different automated system.' Barrier's wife has encouraged him to view the situation positively. 'You're being paid to stand outside,' she said. 'Enjoy the fresh air.' 'The fresh air doesn't need me either,' Barrier replied. He has begun writing poetry during his shifts, most of which concerns gates, barriers, and the passage of time. His supervisor describes the verse as 'unexpectedly moving.'