There are unspoken rules about being in an elevator, people! Unspoken being one of the most important
Read more petty gripes
Most people don’t relish being locked in a confined space, in close proximity to strangers, travelling at speed. And yet, so many people do nothing to elevate the experience for others.
I am floored at the enthusiasm of people who stand at the crack of elevator doors waiting for them to open, as if it were 9am at the Black Friday sales. When the doors open, they recoil in surprise – presumably they were expecting to be the first passengers on the maiden voyage of this metal tube sliding up and down the building’s shaft.
Should you need to get out as these elevator enthusiasts are entering, they appear positively annoyed, and rather than stepping out of the way, stay rooted in position, turning their body sideways, providing you with a sliver of a fleshy human funnel to squeeze through. This brings me the only pleasure I can derive from being in a packed elevator – seeing the faces of these people when they realise no one is getting out and they have to wait for the next one. However, such delight quickly morphs into discomfort at having to silently, awkwardly blink through the long three-to-eight seconds that the doors hang open.
