Going down?

Not too many things easily frustrate me. I am ok in stop-and-go traffic. I don’t get mad when I am kept on hold for long periods of time. In that sense, I am pretty easy going. There is one thing that drives me absolutely nuts. My sole pet peeve in this life is anything and everything involving elevators.

I work on the 33rd floor of my building. You can only imagine how many times the elevator has to stop just to get me into the office in the morning. I kid you not, the other day the elevator stopped 7 times before I got to my floor. In addition to these multiple stops, there are also seems to be some offices that operate on multiple floors, but don’t have internal stairs. This results in people getting into the elevator, pressing the button for the floor directly above theirs and then getting out two seconds later.

Then there are the awkward conversations. My company has over 250 employees. Sometimes I get in the elevator with someone I am friendly with and I don’t mind making small talk. Other times I get in with someone who hits the number for one of our 4 floors and we spend the next 20 seconds in awkward silence. Am I supposed to talk to them because I know they work at my company even if we have never spoken before? I never know what to do.

People also seem to have the worst elevator etiquette. If you are on floor 2 or 3 of a building, take the stairs. Unless you are handicapped, pregnant, or injured, you have no excuse. Also, people should feel free to give the other individuals around them personal space. If someone gets out of the elevator and there is room on the other side, shift over.

So what does all of this frustration and annoyance result in? I press the close button. Oh yes, I admit it. If you are 10-feet behind me walking in, I will try to close that elevator door to make sure I am alone. Sorry buddy, catch the next one. And when I finally get to that those silence and uninterrupted elevator rides, it makes my day that much better.