Elevator Etiquette

Have you, or anyone you know, ever been in an elevator and have it stop on the floor in which you wish to exit, but before you can, someone abruptly tries to enter the elevator? Well you obviously haven’t stepped outside into the real world then.

This happens continuously at the dental school. May-be it’s because our elevators are so old and people are tired of waiting or that people are just that eager to be treated by students, but for one reason or another, they are coming at you like a freight train once that door is open. You might think to yourself, “How am I going to combat this?” Well I have developed a somewhat rudimentary cure to the intrusiveness of these people. I call it ‘crowding the front.’ It takes enough people in the elevator to make the car appear full, but in all actuality, has plenty of room.  It will take an elevator crew that is completely united in this common goal for this to work (If only one or two people crowd the front, they will be trampled.). The larger people in the elevator must be closest to the doors.

Once the doors are open, the assailant will be met with a wall of people so large, they he/she has no choice but to back down and let the people withdraw from the elevator.

So if you find yourself waiting on an elevator in the days to come, be courteous and observe proper elevator etiquette. Wait for the people leaving the elevator to completely exit before you try and enter.

A special thanks goes out to Nick for bringing this complete lack of human decency to my attention.