Saturday, November 12, 2011

Up, Up and Away

Someone got stuck in the passenger *lift the other day. Despite the 'unfortunateness' of the incident, he was rather fortunate because he had a walkie-talkie with him and could therefore call for help. Yes, the glass is always half-full, probably because it wasn't me in there, stuck in between floors in a dark and stuffy cube - alone.

I've always been worried about using that particular passenger lift due to it's uncanny ability to trap unsuspecting users time and again - sometimes right after it's been serviced. Give me the stairs anytime - plus there's always the promise of nice looking legs with the stairs. The passenger lift  gives the vibes of something lonely and desperate which will decide to force it's company on you whether ypu like it or not, until one of the maintenance guys set you free. I had a dream about it last night. (Edit: Last night was actually Tuesday - I wrote this on notepad during lunch and managed to post it up only today - Saturday)

For some strange reason, a few friends and I were on a backpacking adventure trip/competition, and the second last leg of the competition involved getting into the lift and surviving the ride without throwing up once the doors finally opened and chucked you out into the final leg. Although I've never experienced a lift lurching as you see your life pass you by, my dream self had an almost real feel of it. The lights dimmed, the sound magnified, and the whole team screamed although we knew it was just simulated and we were not really falling to our deaths. After what felt like forever it did throw us out. What a thing to dream about.

*British English. Besides, passenger lift sounds better than passenger elevator ;)

11 comments:

  1. I have received an e-mail about what to do and what not to do when things go wrong in an elevator - meaning to say - when the elevator stops abruptly , or suddenly zooms down fast etc.etc.etc........have you read about that ?

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  2. I was stuck in an elevator once and had to have the darn fire dept come and open the lift which was stuck between floors. I'm claustrophobic so you can probably imagine the trauma I was in. I hate elevators!

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  3. Unicorn Girl: I see... I saw a documentary on it on Discovery, I think... one of the shows hosted by Bear Grylls. Quite interesting, actually. But no e-mail- alas.

    Nick: Oh, poor you. I can imagine how traumatising it was. The guy at work was also stuck between floors. After being stuck for more than 20 minutes or so, you could hear the despair in his voice (through the walkie-talkie)

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  4. Yikes. I used to be terrified of elevators for most of my life. If it's empty, I much rather take the stairs. But of course now with my house on the 18th floor, I've got no choice. Sometimes I still get paranoid !

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  5. The lifts where I work frequently break down, likes yours, often just after a service.

    we're getting two brand new lifts next year - can't wait!!

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  6. Jaya J: Yup... I can't imagine trudging up and down 18 floors everytime you want to go out... Thanks for visiting :)

    Nursemyra: Good to know that they're addressing the lift issue at your place. Lifts and my workplace don't seem to be able to work together. Thank goodness it's only 3 floors :)

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  7. I work on the first floor (US - second floor) and I always take the stairs. I am bemused by people who claim they're helping the environment by turning off lights and then take the lift to go down one floor. I hope they get stuck one day.

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  8. Glad to know you're a supporter of using the stairs as well, although for an entirely different reason from me

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  9. On Mythbusters, they tested that theory that in the event of a broken elevator cable which causes the thing to plummet, you should jump into the air just before it hits the bottom. Busted - you still end up a crumpled wreck.

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  10. LOL. This reminds me of my lift incident not too long ago.

    Somehow, I think most of our fear seem to be inspired from cheesy horror-flicks (at least scenes like that would be running through my mind as I'm plummeting down)

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  11. SAW: I think I saw half of that episode some time ago... and yeah, it was busted indeed.

    sriyani: I agree... horror movies contribute to our overactive imagination!

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