The object labeled fragile may receive more careful handling than the person carrying it.

We are attentive to the marked object and inattentive to the person holding it. The word on the box triggers care; the human being carrying it, who may be exhausted, straining, or having the worst week of their life, carries no such label. Fragility in people is unmarked, so it goes unnoticed.

Assume the label whether or not you can see it. That means asking how someone is when they are doing something routine for you, giving the benefit of the doubt to the person who is short with you, and slowing down slightly in exchanges that do not seem to require it. You will never know how often you were right.