Day 4: The Elevator

So today I left work at about 4:30. I work on the eleventh floor and it is always a disaster coming down the elevator. In my office, there are only two of the six elevators that ever work at the same time (government efficiency at its best). So, if anyone is waiting to get on an elevator, the likelihood that your elevator will stop to pick them up is relatively high. Today, I got on the elevator, which was empty. I admit, there is always a part of me that kind of hopes I make it all the way to the bottom without having to stop at all. Maybe once every month this actually happens. As it was, the elevator stopped at the tenth floor, and one person got on. Usually, when the elevator stops after only going one floor, it is not a good omen. The elevator doors closed and the two of us were on our way . . . that is, until the ninth floor, where we picked up another passenger. It stopped on the eighth, but no one got on, the doors just decided to open up and stretch for a bit. The elevator then went down to the seventh floor, where the person who got on the ninth floor got off. One person got on. On the eighth floor, the person who had just gotten on at the ninth floor got off and we picked up two more people. Two more jumped on on the seventh. On the sixth floor, the doors opened, and two people debated for a while as to whether the elevator was too full for them. They both decided they would not get on and the doors shut.

At this point, I started thinking about the fact that I just think it is lazy to get on an elevator to go down one or two floors and then get off. I mean, come on, one flight of stairs? It is one thing for the elderly or the infirm, but someone who is perfectly healthy should not be taking the elevator to go down one floor. Seriously, it is no wonder so many people are overweight in this country.

As I was thinking, I realized that we actually skipped the fifth floor—which by the way is a big elevator floor in our building, everyone on the fifth floor uses the elevator. On the fourth floor, we lost two people but picked three more up. On the second floor, we lost three. One more got out on the lobby level, one on Parking Level A, and then, again, by myself on the elevator, I got off on Parking Level BC. In all, it was about an eight-minute trip from my elevator to the car. I have never really added this time to my commute, but I probably should. Next time I think I will just take the stairs.