Michael1942's Blog

During the course of a week I use elevators several times a day. I have observed what I call “elevator behavior”. Apparently elevators are designed to move at a certain pace and that pace has some effect on the passengers much like “G” forces on a roller coaster or any carnival ride( generally most people go on these rides for the rush of adrenalin created by the thrill of the ride’s motion). In an elevator there is nothing to see except the other passengers and the floor number display. That seemingly lack of activity save a slight movement of the car apparently makes people impatient. Each time some one exits the car and clears the door, one of the passengers immediately pushed the their floor button to accelerate the closing of the doors (although that action has no effect on the rate of closure). The two buttons that affect the doors closing are the door open and door close but their function is to do just that in case the normal closure time changes or in case someone wants to hold the door open for another oncoming passenger. Aside from this elevators are designed to pick up passengers going up or down, once the lowest or topmost floor is reached, the car then reverses its action. Some elevators are programmed to go to a “park” floor (this is a floor that the car comes to a stop and holds until called for). Modern elevators are computer controlled to allow the most efficient movement of passengers. Pushing the buttons multiple times for up or down will not speed the elevators motion as the initial call will not change once the initial signal is sent (pushing the up or down button will not negate the travel of the car!) Each day I see many people aggressively pushing the buttons in the idea that the device will respond quicker that its normal action. Then there is the upward gaze at the floor display showing where the car is at the moment, this “number” gazing seems to give comfort to some and aggravates others but in the end the car will arrive at its destination in a very reasonable time if passengers move in and out of the car as efficiently as the unit itself operates. Let’s talk about elevator manners for a moment. When entering a car with other people I move into the car, push my floor button and step into the car and out of the door way or in some case if some one enters the car when I do, I push my selection and ask about theirs, then push their desired floor. Unless the car is close to capacity I try always to move clear of the door to enable the exiters to access the door with as little effort as possible. If I am the only passenger when I reach my floor I move to the center of the door and at the front edge as to make a quick exit so that any waiting passengers may enter easily. If the car has several passengers I move to door as my floor comes up to again allow easy exit for myself and easy entrance for anyone waiting. There are no written elevator rules of use That I am aware of but I observe the ones I have outlined above and maybe some others will also.