Elevator misuse?

[freefall]

I (used to and/or will) work (or studied) in a place overwhelmed with people, where the buildings are at least 5 storeys high and have only three or four elevators. As a result, people often have to wait long not only to get in elevators, but also to reach the floor they want to. Sometimes it takes so long I take stairs even for floors above level 5 or so, knowing I'll reach there earlier.

Thus it irks me when I see young, healthy, non-disabled people taking the elevator to go only one/two floors up/down. It's really time-wasting for the others (imagine the time wasted to stop at the designated floor, open the door, halt for a moment, and then go again, at every single floor, going up and down!), not to mention space occupying, especially for those who really need elevators.

Sadly, the signs on the elevator buttons hardly have any effects.

How do you feel about this?

[HunterM]

I totally get your point of view as I don't take the elevator if it's less than 3 floors. However, as long as they are not disobeying rules in that building, let them be. It's like getting mad at people for standing in line to drink water from the public water fountain when they are not thirsty at all. There are no rules that you absolutely have to be thirsty in order to drink water.

Also, there are days when my legs are sore due to a new leg exercise routine. That's when I take the elevator for 1 floor.

[cgymike]

If you press call service and 64 on otis elevators they will get a cable wind error and be wrecked!

[Nishin]

Well maybe if the stairs weren't in a smelly and dark corner of the building I would consider using it to climb the 7 floors...

... not

[T-Rexx]

Thus it irks me when I see young, healthy, non-disabled people taking the elevator to go only one/two floors up/down. It's really time-wasting for the others (imagine the time wasted to stop at the designated floor, open the door, halt for a moment, and then go again, at every single floor, going up and down!), not to mention space occupying, especially for those who really need elevators.

In older buildings, the elevators and stairs tend to be in the same area. Stairwells are often adjacent to the elevator shafts in these buildings, as the architectural philosophy was to have a common vertical shaft in the building for movement up and down by whatever means.

In newer buildings, the stairwells are often located far from the elevators and are sometimes difficult to find. I commented to an architect friend of mine that I had the impression that the stairs were being deliberately hidden. His reaction was "Yes, exactly!" It seems the new attitude is that stairs are only included to meet the fire code, and are only intended for emergency use. It is therefore considered good architecture to tuck them away unobtrusively, in parts of the building where nobody will notice them.

There is also an attitude (which I have never been able to understand) that stairs constitute a security risk. I used to work in a government building where all of the stairwell doors locked behind you when you entered the stairwell. You could not, therefore, use the stairs to move from floor to floor - they were only for emergency use. Once you entered the stairwell and the door closed behind you, your only option was to go down to the lobby and take the elevator up (even if you were on the 20th floor!).

We have trained people always to use elevators by making stairs deliberately difficult (or even impossible) to use.

[purina]

I remember being apalled to read (some time ago) that at one office complex (maybe it was GM) only executives were allowed the privilege of using the stairs.

[freefall]

In newer buildings, the stairwells are often located far from the elevators and are sometimes difficult to find. I commented to an architect friend of mine that I had the impression that the stairs were being deliberately hidden. His reaction was "Yes, exactly!" It seems the new attitude is that stairs are only included to meet the fire code, and are only intended for emergency use. It is therefore considered good architecture to tuck them away unobtrusively, in parts of the building where nobody will notice them.

There is also an attitude (which I have never been able to understand) that stairs constitute a security risk. I used to work in a government building where all of the stairwell doors locked behind you when you entered the stairwell. You could not, therefore, use the stairs to move from floor to floor - they were only for emergency use. Once you entered the stairwell and the door closed behind you, your only option was to go down to the lobby and take the elevator up (even if you were on the 20th floor!).

We have trained people always to use elevators by making stairs deliberately difficult (or even impossible) to use.

I don't know about the locked stairways; they sound like emergency exits to me, which are not normally used for everyday use (although I often use them to travel through floors).

And yes, I feel about the hidden stairways - and that one is an exception. I've encountered that situation and always find myself annoyed by the 'absence' of the stairs while waiting the elevators to take me only one floor up/down.

I'm talking about when the stairs are easily accessible. I mean, in my workplace, the stairs are located right opposite the elevators - you have to be blind to entirely miss it, and it's quite ironic to see youngsters waiting for the elevator while some frail decrepit old people stagger and swivel on the small steep steps without assistance.

[derelictdarrel]

We have a freight elevator.. as the name implys, it is used for hauling things you don't want to pack up any stairs.
I have quite a few lazy coworkers who use the freight elevator to go only one level from where they were to go have a cigarette .
I totally get your angst.

[FPNY]

Life is so stressful, lets all take a deep breath, count to ten.....exhale......deep breath....say oooohhhhmmmmmmm.....oooooohhhhhhmmmm...


There, everyone feel better?

[Keeland]

Don't exit signs reveal stairways, by law? Unless it's the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

[loki81]

There is also an attitude (which I have never been able to understand) that stairs constitute a security risk. I used to work in a government building where all of the stairwell doors locked behind you when you entered the stairwell. You could not, therefore, use the stairs to move from floor to floor - they were only for emergency use. Once you entered the stairwell and the door closed behind you, your only option was to go down to the lobby and take the elevator up (even if you were on the 20th floor!).

that makes sense... you don't want someone getting past security on one floor and then having access to every other floor via the stairwell.

I work in a skyscraper... there's security right where you enter the building, but floor security is left up to the tenants (on my floor, you step out of the elevator and are presented with a receptionist on one side and a locked door on the other than requires biometrics to get through (eye scan), but we don't have the resources/interest in posting a security guard at every stairwell entrance too.


back to the OP... yes, that bothers the fuck out of me. I don't have a choice in my office building (and we've got like 20 elevators anyways), but I park in a 5-story garage with 2 slow-as-fuck elevators. when I park on the roof and take the elevator up to the 5th floor, it bothers the hell out of me when a perfectly able-bodied person hops in to take it up to the 2nd floor.

I wouldn't confront them, but I do obviously roll my eyes and laugh when they hit the button.

[M10000]

VIDEO: Vandal falls down elevator shaft

Still photo . . . .


A man in an electric wheelchair was so angry at missing a shopping centre lift that he rammed the door twice, burst it open and then fell to his death down the shaft

The man in the motorised vehicle let his anger get the better of him when he missed an elevator in a shopping centre after the woman inside pressed the button to go down.

As the doors closed a split-second before he reached the lift, the man, known only as Mr Lee, slammed his vehicle into them.

The 40-year-old pressed the button to no avail and the elevator left. Mr Lee then reversed his vehicle slightly and drove into the doors again, making a dent.

He reversed back for one more attempt. This time the doors gave way and he plunged to his death.
He is believed to have fallen about 6m (19ft).

The incident, which happened in August, was caught on security cameras in the shopping centre in Daejon, South Korea.

[Scealle]

Personally I don't like to use elevators and try to walk the stairs whenever I can though. Now that my place is 10+ floors. Can't help but use them.