Do you press the lift for others?
@lordwarwizard (35747)
Singapore
May 1, 2007 12:56pm CST
Stop! Wait!!
I quickly slipped into my secret identity of 007 and turbo-charged my reaction. Before the nearest fly can even flap its wings, I shot out my hand and hit the OPEN button. The lift door paused momentarily then snapped open.
A lady reeking of perfume that can render a man unconscious stepped into the lift. "10 please", she said, before turning to face the door. There was a moment of non-movement and complete silence before someone realised that she meant for the 10th floor button to be pressed. It happened that we were the only 2 persons in the lift, and that the "someone" was me.
Taken aback by her presumptuous manner, I nevertheless acted the gentleman and hit the button. "Sure!" In my mind though, I was thinking: Her hands were free and she appeared physically fit. Can she not press the button herself?
Long time ago, I used to offer free button-pressing service for others. But it was rather embarrassing since each time, I realised that I needed a few seconds to figure out where the buttons were. The configuration always seemed different. So now, I just press the button I want and move aside for others.
What about you? Do you actively seek to press the floor buttons for others? Or are you more like that lady who assumed that someone would be there to execute her order? Or do you press, then move away for others? Or do you just hope that someone would step out at the same floor as you? Or... ?
Do share your thoughts. ;-)
PS.: For those in the USA, I am referring to the elevator. :P
36 people like this
95 responses
@AmbiePam (92872)
• United States
1 May 07
Yeah, I knew you were talking about the elevator. : ) If I'm standing right by the buttons for the floors and someone says the number of the floor they want, I'll press it, assuming that they think it would be rude of THEM to invade my personal space by pressing it themselves. Now, if I'm standing in the back of the elevator and they say the number they want, I won't move. Just because I'd be so shocked I couldn't respond properly. Who talks to strangers like they are personsal butlers?
5 people like this
@trinidadvelasco (11401)
• Philippines
1 May 07
how right of you, ambiepam, to say that. we are not their servants.
5 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
I try not to be too assuming lol. (Don't want Americans to hurl stones at my for favoring British English over American English this once :P)
A valid point yes.. they might be thinking they don't want to invade our personal space...
5 people like this
@Metallideth (572)
• United States
2 May 07
That's what I would assume in most cases, too (about invading personal space). Sometimes when I get on an elevator, someone will ask me which floor I want and press the button, so sometimes I also ask people what floor they want, just to be nice. Now when an elevator is crowded, there really isn't any other choice than automatically delegating that role to whoever is closest to the buttons.
4 people like this
@trinidadvelasco (11401)
• Philippines
1 May 07
As a matter of habit, once i get into an elevator i press the number corresponding to the floor that i intend to go to. Then I move far from it to give space for others. I don't expect that anyone will ever be interested to become somebody else's elevator boy/girl. There is a possibly of hearing someone wrongly and I might get the blame for not doing it right. I'd surely hate it if someone will make an accusing finger at me.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Haha, like what I do now!
After all, elevator guy is a full-time job. (No she didn't give me any tips.)
5 people like this
@zuri25 (2125)
• United States
1 May 07
I guess I'm a diminishing breed of people who ask "What floor" when in an elevator. Sometimes when I am not the one doing the pushing of the buttons and the one who is does not ask me what floor I am going to I'll say "3 please" or whatever floor it happens to be. I think it's the polite thing to do to push the buttons for others after you have pushed the button for yourself. When I was in college the main building for classes only had four floors (the fourth was only used occassionally) so most people would simply push both floor two and three if the elevator was full, which it often was being the only elevator in the building.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Hey, I used to do that too... just that I always had a hard time figuring out where the buttons were - I ended up looking so stupid. :P
3 people like this
@princeworthy (1909)
• United States
1 May 07
I usually make my choice and then step away from the buttons. There have been a few occasions where I happened to still be standing in front of the buttons when riders have stepped on. On these occasions I did the polite thing and asked them what floor they needed. If someone just presumed, like in the case of this lady, I would probably oblige just to keep the peace. An elevator or lift is a quite small space after all ;) I wouldn't want to be unpleasant to someone in such small quarters. *wink*
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Oh yea. You wouldn't want her to get mad and scratch you with her nails. :P
3 people like this
@liranlgo (5752)
• Israel
1 May 07
That is a good one wiz. I was reading what you wrote and thinking about this lady. Who does she think she is? Queen Elizabeth? I really do not care for people like her that things that the whole world was created in order to serve her. But i do like to be in charge and i do find myself pressing the buttons of the lift for other people. ;)
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
2 May 07
That's the least I can do to get a free meal. LOL :P
1 person likes this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Maybe Paris Hilton? :P
I hope you like to be in charge when I get the chance to dine with you - like insisting to pay the bills and so on lol.
5 people like this
@Woodpigeon (3710)
• Ireland
1 May 07
On lifts I don't actively press the button for others or make a poin of offering a button pressing service. If they asked me I would comply, but if someone asked me in as surly a manner as you described, I may have developed a sudden case of deafness.
Now, on trains, it's another story. I will nearly knock down a pregnant woman or a little old lady to get at the 'open door' button. I'm the same at buttons to get traffic to stop for pedestrians. My kids and I nearly race each other over whose turn it is.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Oh yea? So you would play the waiting game?
Now, you be careful around pregnant ladies and the elderly, alright? :P
5 people like this
@Woodpigeon (3710)
• Ireland
2 May 07
I will try, bu it seems to be a compulsion!
2 people like this
@keepermykitty (2573)
• Canada
1 May 07
I would press the button if I was near it , I tend to do what you do and move aside so others can hit the button themselves , not to be rude but I am not there to push everyones floor numbers , but if I had just got on Then I would ....
3 people like this
@texasclassygal (5305)
• United States
1 May 07
I would do as you did, be astonished that she did not press the appropriate floor and more or less assumed you would do it for her. When I get on the elevator I don't involve myself in conversation and usually just look ahead and wait til I get to my floor, usually what most do I believe.
4 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Gosh, no way should you talk in an elevator. Rather, if they speak to you, you better be careful. Normal people don't start conversation in an elevator trip that will end in a short while. :P
4 people like this
@patgalca (18370)
• Orangeville, Ontario
1 May 07
I will willingly push the button for someone else, everyone if 10 people file in, whether they ask me or whether I ask them. However, I would never ask someone to push a button for me but most people usually offer. Though I must admit there has been the odd time when someone just leans across the push the button so I step back out of the way.
By the way, I don't get on too many elevators. LOL! I live in a small town where there are only about 10 apartment buildings with elevators. I have no reason to frequent those buildings anymore. There are no high rise office buildings. The hospital is only two levels so I take the stairs. There is an elevator at the rec centre but since it is only two levels as well. They are putting in an elevator at our church so the physically disabled can attend functions in the upstairs hall. I won't be using that... not yet anyway.
There is kind of a restriction in our town keeping buildings low-rise to maintain the small town look.
3 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
You are such a sweetie! :P
You will have fun with elevators in Singapore. We have so many high rise buildings. If there is no elevator, you must be d*rn rich to own the whole plot of land. :PP
3 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
2 May 07
Land is just quite expensive here... that's why we have high rise buildings - to maximize the land.
1 person likes this
@arvee17 (730)
• Philippines
1 May 07
Most people here in my place don't care if they were asked by a simple pressing of a button. What is annoying for most people is that when there are a lot of people in the elevator and only one person near the button is pressing it. Thinking that he is working in the building and that his main job is pressing buttons. lol.
I don't mind if someone ask me to press it. But most of the time they asked me what floor i want to go. But still, I like the feeling of me pressing the button. Like a kid always excited to do this simple task and get satisfied with it.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Oh gosh, it would be quite insulting to be mistaken for the elevator guy!
Disclaimer: Of course, I understand there is nothing wrong with this job. Just teasing. A job is a job.
2 people like this
@ethanmama (1745)
• Philippines
2 May 07
When I'm standing close to the buttons, I sometimes help people press the buttons for their floor. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Other people also do that for me if they were the ones near the elevator. :)
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
2 May 07
Yea, quite a small thing in actuality.
1 person likes this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
1 May 07
Why not just do everyone a "favor" and press them all at once? LOL!!! I'm just kidding. I don't ride elevators that often, but if I am, I guess I do press the button if someone asked. I guess it's better than having them lean across me; groping for the lift buttons; and taking the chance they found the one they want. HEE HEE!
BTW... Have you ever bounced in an elevator while it's traveling either up or down? You get a really fun feeling as it slows and stops at the floor. Give it a try if you haven't. LOL!!! Yes, I'm 36 years old, and STILL bounce in the elevators!
3 people like this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
1 May 07
Oh well, I guess I won't be doing that. LOL!!!
3 people like this
@creematee (2810)
• United States
23 May 07
Thank you for the BR! :) That means a lot!
1 person likes this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
Unless someone is stopping at every floor, you are gonna get kicked blue black before you manage to crawl out of the lift.:P
3 people like this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
2 May 07
maybe she thought you were employed by the facility as a *lift boy*? if the elevator is full and I am closest to the buttons, I would rather offer to press for the other travelers than have them touch me while trying to get to them themselves. if the elevator is relatively empty, I will step aside so the new arrival can press her own buttons.
:)
3 people like this
@rainqueen21 (338)
• United States
2 May 07
yea if i'm standing right by the buttons i press it, not really out of being polite but i don't want anyone invading my personal space, i can't stand that
3 people like this
@gberlin (3836)
•
1 May 07
Well I only ride the lift once a year when I am in Washington, DC for a week. If I am standing near the row of buttons and someone gets on I will ask them or they might say the floor they want and I will press the button. If I am the last one on and someone is near the row of buttons I just state the floor I need and the person closest to the buttons presses the button for me. It just seems like a common courtesy that if you are near the row of buttons that you offer to select the floor for them. Thats what I do.
@josephperera (2906)
• Sri Lanka
23 May 07
I consider myself an expert when it comes to these things. I wonder whethter you have ever travelled in lifts where you close the door with the hand. But we have used those also. So the modern lifts are child's play. I always keep my finger in the appropriate button till everyone is comfortably settled down for the joy ride.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
23 May 07
Nope, not tried. I only tried to keep the doors from closing with my hand. :P
1 person likes this
@SKLC_PT (1234)
•
24 May 07
Well I don't go on elevators all that much, but I usually just get in, press my button and move to my space. I don't mind pressing for others, but I've never had a snob tell me to press the button only people ask me to, I'm not sure how I'd react to the person telling / demanding / ordering me to do it. I might have asked one one or another occasion, but that's when the elevator is so full you need to ask someone to press it, or when you are in a position that you can't press it.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
23 May 07
Do you think she would have kicked me then? :P
2 people like this
@DeaXyza (577)
• United States
1 May 07
My dear wizard I know a lift means a Elevator, yes I know Americans call them elevators I feel both terms make llot of sense I recently fumbled upon a word inclinator yeah it it is a lift that move in an inclined position!
But cutting back to your thread yes I do no big deal even if I fumble I have pressing those chubby things that light up in circles or perfect squares and once they hit their floor switch off telling me I am nearing my destination soon! I do not take lifts for smaller flights I run up the stairs till 4th or 5th floor. I take an elevator for floors above 5th floor. So I know the lift shall make several stops before it reaches my destination. But if my hands were full of grocery bags then I ask somone to help me out with my floor. People usually ask which floor if they see the someone's both arm are occupied and need assistance.
Ofcourse there are many a time when I meet little kids who are more enthusiastic than me to press all the floors available and in that case I request them nicely and they are so happy to oblige and so proud that they are helping people one can not a price to their gleefully happy faces.....That is me thanks for asking
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 May 07
I feel lift makes more sense than elevator. Here, we refer to those inclining ones as elevator. The box one is lift.
If you are not familiar with that place or the place is not safe, lifts might be safer than the stairs (I think). :P
3 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
2 May 07
Get a friend who can fight. Or, at least one who can wield her umbrella like a polished pro. *wink*
1 person likes this
@DeaXyza (577)
• United States
2 May 07
oh yes thanks for the concern wizzy I am careful not to take stairs late at night even if it is my own building and never take stairs if it is a bit of a seedy place. Infact I don't go to seedy places all by myself always take a friend along and be extra careful in what we say and do. (never know what might trigger an argument or a fight). Thanks again
1 person likes this
@Swtrose (3385)
• Canada
1 May 07
If I'm in front of the buttons and someone gets on the elevator I ask them what floor and press the button. I have also gotten on an elevator and someone has asked me what floor. When you are on a crowded elevator it is not always easy to push the buttons, but if there is just a couple people on it, I push it myself.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
2 May 07
I hope you haven't come across any buttons that are messed up with gum or mucus. :P
