Can We Talk 2

Going Up In An Elevator

         Aerosmith made an elevator sound sexy, but I've got other descriptions. Today I had a new adventure on one.

         I got on the middle of three elevators at the hospital. I wanted to go up one floor to exit. I was done and had the rest of the day off. Two employees were on with me, one in a uniform. They were both on a late lunch break. Almost as soon as it started up, the elevator abruptly jerked and made a tremendous thud. The lady in uniform went, "Oh, oh".

         We hesitated a few moments before the blue uniform punched the help button. The second one told her to push the open button. Nothing worked, so she hit alarm. We didn't move. Nothing happened. Finally, after what sounded like outside phone line recorded messages, someone asked if we needed help. The button pusher told her where we were and what had happened. Apparently, he was from outside the hospital and said he would report the incident. He asked how many were on the elevator, if anyone needed medical help, and what her name was. "Casey," she said.

         Minutes passed as we listened to the whooshing of the other elevators, and clanking sounds, and bells. We kept expecting one of the clanks to be someone opening our door. I imagined that the elevator was starting to move, then realized it hadn't. We learned they were both on lunch, and I was leaving an appointment. Finally, the alarm guy called back and asked Casey if we were okay. He promised someone was on the way.

         More time passed, when Casey decided to call her office or station and tell them why she hadn't returned. That woman promised to report it from within. I started studying the inside. In the movies, some guy can always stand up and get through a tile in the ceiling Nope. Nothing but an electric light fixture in that ceiling. I started trying to pry some side panels with my fingers, but they weren't going anywhere either. These elevators were not movie elevators! No one was going anywhere to be a hero or escape a villain. There was no fire extinguisher.

         It began to get really warm in there. We could feel the movement of the other shafts as the air was sucked from ours as they passed. It was about 20 minutes before we felt someone was aware that we were in there and trying to rescue us. Suddenly I saw light at the bottom of our door. The second lady said, "I hope we're at a level where we can just step out". Just then the doors barely began to part at the bottom only, and I could see the top of the opening in the wall. It was not matching the top of the elevator. "No, look there," I said pointing. "We're going to have to jump down."

         Well, these two guys struggled to part the doors, finally turning another power switch off that was forcing them to close. (They had the stationery doors open. It was the doors that actually close the shaft that wouldn't open.) Then they played with the ladder, trying to figure the safest way to get us out. I wanted to just sit down and slide off the edge, but they wouldn't allow it. By then, the lobby, where I had started was filling with onlookers.

         They decided to leave the ladder closed, propped against the raised floor with one of them holding it in place. We had to turn around and back out of the elevator, with the opening at about our waist or lower. I was not wearing the right shoes for this. Casey, the smallest and youngest, went down first. It seemed like it took forever. Then it was my turn. The second lady took my purse, I turned my back to the audience and moved my foot to the side. The man, whom I did not know, put his hand on my foot to guide it to the rung. I think I moved fairly quickly once the first foot was planted. The second man handed me my purse. He had stood beside the ladder to catch me just in case. The last one off came down fairly quickly, too, having watched us.

         I still needed to leave the hospital, but I didn't want to try another of their elevators! Someone standing there offered to show me the stairs. Lady #3 wanted them, too. We walked up 3 full flights of stairs to get to the level I wanted. (Hospitals have high ceilings.) This is a beautiful building with lots of light and artistic touches on the side of a mountain. I didn't panic, but now I'm afraid to trust elevators.

         Here's my advice. It's healthier to walk up the stairs, if possible. Go to the bathroom before you get on the elevator. Have a bottle of water, just in case. If it's almost lunch time, have a cracker or a piece of fruit on stand-bye. I have to think about what to do if my elderly father is with me. He couldn't have turned around and slid to one side to go down a ladder. And he couldn't walk up that many steps. His joints just won't do it. I'd have to rant to the alarm guy about getting help for someone not stable on his feet immediately. But don't panic for yourself or someone else. You'll waste the oxygen.