(no subject)
Why elevators are really awkward;
During my three weeks in the office building, I've discovered that I have a strange issue with elevators. Office elevators are the most socially-awkward places to find yourself in, especially when you're stuck with someone you know. Like a colleague for instance. Or worse still, your boss. Not only is it somehow an unspoken rule to never chit-chat in elevators because the whole bunch of people stuck with you will invariably eavesdrop on your conversation even though they pretend not to (and even better if you're engaged in one of those morning small-talks involving a "how was your weekend?" "it was good, you?" "it was great!" that makes you look like a complete doofus), everyone has to either stare at the floor or the ceiling. Or, more often than not, their phones or their ipod.
Each time I step into an elevator, my brain seems to immediately start searching for things that it finds funny. For example, I always wonder if anyone in the elevator is going to fart or burp. And the next thing I know, I start worrying that it will come from yours truly. To keep myself distracted, I like to look around in the stealthy way I do best. Today I noticed a girl in front of me enthusiastically scrolling through her ipod's playlist like it was the most exciting thing in the world and as though she had just discovered that there was more than one song in her ipod. And next to her stood a man who had his eyes glued to the number on the elevator screen like he couldn't believe the lift was actually ascending.
I think people get panicky in these silly elevators. Everyone worries about not being able to tap their card and punch in their floor number in time. There is always that one sad person who fails to do so. And when it happens, you'll notice everyone else's wide-eyed stares and the tension in the elevator. Everyone's thinking the same thing: Oh my god, loser. Is he/she going to make it in time?!
Chances are: if you're on the 4th floor, the elevator will go up too quickly for you to re-tap and re-punch the button. And then you have no choice but to stand in the elevator for an excruciating several seconds, pretending like you totally meant to go up to the next available floor, exit, and wait for another elevator to take you down again. Just for fun. Like it's the new elevator-taking trend.
And believe it or not, today I found myself in a similar situation. Except that I did tap my card and I did press '8' in time. But unfortunately, that didn't stop me from going all the way up to the 13th floor. All because I was too busy spying on the people around me and making snide remarks in my head. HAHAHA serve me right, I know.
The best part of it all? My boss was in the elevator with me and we even exchanged polite smiles while entering the elevator on the ground floor. I'm sure he must have been wondering where I disappeared to when he alighted on the 8th floor. I can be such a klutz at times, it's true. But at least I didn't burp or fart, and at least I didn't have to make small-talk with him because he was also the man who was staring so intently at the elevator screen the whole ride.
During my three weeks in the office building, I've discovered that I have a strange issue with elevators. Office elevators are the most socially-awkward places to find yourself in, especially when you're stuck with someone you know. Like a colleague for instance. Or worse still, your boss. Not only is it somehow an unspoken rule to never chit-chat in elevators because the whole bunch of people stuck with you will invariably eavesdrop on your conversation even though they pretend not to (and even better if you're engaged in one of those morning small-talks involving a "how was your weekend?" "it was good, you?" "it was great!" that makes you look like a complete doofus), everyone has to either stare at the floor or the ceiling. Or, more often than not, their phones or their ipod.
Each time I step into an elevator, my brain seems to immediately start searching for things that it finds funny. For example, I always wonder if anyone in the elevator is going to fart or burp. And the next thing I know, I start worrying that it will come from yours truly. To keep myself distracted, I like to look around in the stealthy way I do best. Today I noticed a girl in front of me enthusiastically scrolling through her ipod's playlist like it was the most exciting thing in the world and as though she had just discovered that there was more than one song in her ipod. And next to her stood a man who had his eyes glued to the number on the elevator screen like he couldn't believe the lift was actually ascending.
I think people get panicky in these silly elevators. Everyone worries about not being able to tap their card and punch in their floor number in time. There is always that one sad person who fails to do so. And when it happens, you'll notice everyone else's wide-eyed stares and the tension in the elevator. Everyone's thinking the same thing: Oh my god, loser. Is he/she going to make it in time?!
Chances are: if you're on the 4th floor, the elevator will go up too quickly for you to re-tap and re-punch the button. And then you have no choice but to stand in the elevator for an excruciating several seconds, pretending like you totally meant to go up to the next available floor, exit, and wait for another elevator to take you down again. Just for fun. Like it's the new elevator-taking trend.
And believe it or not, today I found myself in a similar situation. Except that I did tap my card and I did press '8' in time. But unfortunately, that didn't stop me from going all the way up to the 13th floor. All because I was too busy spying on the people around me and making snide remarks in my head. HAHAHA serve me right, I know.
The best part of it all? My boss was in the elevator with me and we even exchanged polite smiles while entering the elevator on the ground floor. I'm sure he must have been wondering where I disappeared to when he alighted on the 8th floor. I can be such a klutz at times, it's true. But at least I didn't burp or fart, and at least I didn't have to make small-talk with him because he was also the man who was staring so intently at the elevator screen the whole ride.