Elevator Manifesto: Part 2

In part one of the Elevator Manifesto I introduced you to the most important rule of being a responsible and considerate elevator passenger.  Just to remind you that rule is, “Exiting passengers have the right of way”.  If you only take one thing away from my frustration with elevators I hope it is that one simple rule and not that I am slightly deranged.  There are however other rules should you be interested.
Rule #2 Don’t be a Space Invader.
I’m not talking about the video game from the 80’s, what I am talking about is people that stand way too close when it is unnecessary.  Seriously give people some room.  We are passengers in an elevator together not lifelong friends.  I like to maintain my personal space, and in doing so help you to maintain yours, but some people just don’t get the concept.  Now I fully understand that everyone’s personal space diminishes as the elevator gets more and more full.  I don’t expect everyone to be jammed into the corner to accommodate my needs.  However if the there are only a few people in the car then there is no reason that someone should be shoulder to shoulder with me.  Spread out and explore the space, enjoy the ride.  That’s how I feel.

Why would strangers choose to invade your personal space?  I don’t know.  Maybe they are lonely. Maybe they are conducting a psychological experiment (this happened to me once).  Maybe they just don’t know any better.  Whatever the reason it’s not cool. 
Space Invaders come in all shapes and sizes and you never know when one is about to strike.  One time I was riding the elevator and it stopped on a random floor that we will call the third floor.  A woman in a power chair came cruising in at a high rate of speed and did not stop until she made it all the way to the back where I was standing.  Sometimes people in power chairs do this in order to have enough room to turn around so they can exit the elevator facing forward.  I get it, looking ahead is easier than trying to look behind, and since we were the only two on the elevator I assumed it was her plan.  Nope.  She did however inch her chair even closer to me so that the chair was almost touching my shoe.  She stayed there until she reached her floor and then had to back up before she could turn around and exit.
Normally I step away from the Space Invaders if there is room and sometimes I will tell them they are a little close, but I couldn’t believe that the woman in the power chair purposely inched even closer after she was already too close.  I had to see what was going to happen. 
I don’t think it is rude to ask for a little space if you feel uncomfortable, but if there is room you shouldn’t  have too.

Elevator Manifesto: Part 1

This manifesto is a response to a general lack of consideration and presence of common sense that I have witnessed while riding the elevators in the hospital where I work in the maintenance department.  Maybe these things are indicative of changes to society on a larger scale and just become more obvious in the microcosm of the elevator ride.  Maybe my place of work has been overrun by the inconsiderate and the oblivious, and the behaviors I see on a day to day basis aren’t the norm.  I doubt this is the case though.  While this is a manifesto about elevator rules, it is also a guide to living in polite society.  Having some consideration for others can go a long way to making the world run more smoothly.

Before addressing topics like, Space Invaders, Up Downs, Down Ups, Door Holders, Elevator Operators, and more I think I should address the most common source of my elevator frustration. 
Rule #1 Exiting passengers have the right of way.
Such a simple rule. 
So simple I will use an analogy to explain it.  Lets say you were filling a jar with red and blue marbles and you mistakenly fill it to the top with the red leaving no room for the blue.  You have to get the blue ones in there somehow.  What do you do?  Do you try to cram the blue marbles into the already full jar like a dummy, or do you take some of the red ones out to make room for the blue?  Most people would choose the latter rather than the former of the two options.  Why then do so many people rush onto the elevator as soon as the doors open?  Is it because they lack a basic understanding of common elevator rules of etiquette, or do they think the world revolves around them and we should all step aside and let them do whatever they want.
This simple rule and its violation is what finally lead me to writing this manifesto that I have been threatening to write for years.  It was a Thursday, a day not unlike any other day.  I was pushing a cart with some supplies and had to bring them to the the third floor.  I boarded the elevator with another person and we both got off at the third floor.  I motioned for him to disembark first because the room I was going to was next to the elevator bank and he would have had to walk around me had I exited first (consideration: it’s easy).  I followed directly behind him not wanting to leave a gap allowing someone to jump on before I could make my exit.  Seriously I was right on his heels, but that wasn’t enough to stop the woman who had been waiting for the elevator.  Without looking she tried to walk right on as in her peripheral vision she saw the first guy exit.  When she finally noticed I was coming off with the cart she had to do a jump back maneuver that almost made the guy behind her trip.  As the elevator door was closing I could hear her mumbling to the guy whom she almost tripped that it was rude of me to not have announced I was coming off the elevator.  I was rude?  Really?  I don’t believe I was, but if I was please tell me.  She said some other stuff too that was hard to make out.  My first thought was to abandon my cart and run up the stairs to explain to her the error of her ways but I knew better than to leave the cart unattended.  It was a teachable moment, and I had to let it pass, very unfortunate.
Rule #1 is simple, easy to follow, and is applicable 100% of the time.  If you have been waiting “forever” for the elevator to arrive at your floor, exiting passengers still have the right of way.  If you are only going up or down one floor, exiting passengers still have the right of way.  If you are pregnant or suspect you may be pregnant, if you are in a power chair, if you are rich, if you are poor, if you suspect you may have gotten that lady pregnant when you hooked up at your ten year high school reunion, remember Rule #1 and let the people off the elevator before you make things difficult for everyone.
Stay tuned for part 2 and until then be sure to put rule #1 into practice.