gaining control: I promised that
if she would wait patiently for the
right moment (which I would help
her identify), she would be able to
get the plane to take off by intently
pressing the tip of her nose with
her index finger. I still remember
her spurts of joy once the planes
took off as she witnessed what
she believed to be a response to
her action! Perhaps pressing an
elevator button repeatedly provides
a similar sense of (illusory)
control...
What are your memorable elevator
experiences? Have you ever
shared a ride with people who
broke the standard elevator behavioral
rules?
In 1962, an elevator experience
entitled “Face the Rear,” designed to
test social conformity, was conducted
by Candid Camera: A group of
poker-faced members of a Candid
Camera crew were instructed to face
the back wall, rather than the front
of an elevator, when new, unsuspecting
riders entered. Interestingly,
most new riders (though bewildered
and hesitant) followed suit,
even though facing the back of a
moving elevator is at odds with
customary elevator behavior. The
video (which you can find on the
internet) has been repeatedly cited
in social psychology textbooks
and shown in psychology classes.
The pressure to succumb to group
behavior overruled learned rules
regarding normative patterns of
elevator behavior.
According to Lee Gray, whose
book “From Ascending Rooms
to Express Elevators” traces the
history of passenger elevators, the
unspoken rule of facing forward
started very early as elevators had
benches in them along the back row
and passengers would sit facing the
door. His book demonstrates how
the invention of elevators has significantly
changed urban planning,
making it possible to move people
and objects to great heights, build
upwards, and maximize the use of
space.
Recounting memorable elevator
rides, here is a story I heard
from a colleague: Two women in
a Manhattan elevator conversing
in Polish, a language they believed
my colleague didn’t understand,
were harshly criticizing her outfit.
When she got to her floor, before
exiting, she turned to the women
and said, in Polish, that she was
actually wearing her favorite outfit
that day and thought it was becoming.
The garrulous women looked
unnerved...
A more recent personal experience:
I was sharing a ride in a
hospital’s elevator with an elderly
woman. She was in tears. I offered
her a tissue. Unprompted, she told
me that she had just left her doctor’s
office with a bad diagnosis.
She bemoaned the unfairness of
this, as too many calamities had
already befallen her. I agreed: Life
is often unfair. I skipped my floor
and rode with her all the way to the
lobby, holding her pain a few more
floors. We hugged as she exited. I
went back to “my floor.” A moment
of human connection...
Elevator rides may be viewed
as a metaphor for a journey along
life’s path: It is important to master
patience. There are Ups, but there
are Downs too. We ascend and
descend. At times we ride high,
but every now and then we hit
bottom and need a ‘lift’... People
may come in and leave along the
way. Some stay longer; others exit
before us – at times leaving us to
ride solo... The ride may be smooth
or bumpy. Sometimes the pace of
the ride is too rapid and we wish
we had a Stop button. Occasionally
we do need to find the Help button
and press it. Are we going to
reach our destination as intended?
Hopefully, but we cannot always
foretell. Every now and then, we
get stuck where we don’t want to be
(and wrestle with fear). Reaching
our destination may take longer
than expected and every once in a
while, we need to rely on others to
be rescued. On occasion, we may
push a wrong button and realize
that we are not heading in the right
direction: We do need to push the
right buttons to get to where we
wish. And make sure we step off
at the right stop...
We know the basics of how elevators
operate (some more some less),
but it is not required that we know
all the details. All we can do is pay
attention, follow the rules, remember
where we are headed, know
which buttons get us to where we
want to be, push the right buttons,
face forward, hold the door open
for other riders, remind ourselves
that when one door closes another
opens, remain open to possibilities,
trust the force, and beyond all that
– try to enjoy the ride...
NST University Club’s April Meeting:
It was Out of This World!
BY IRENE FRANK
Yes, Virginia, there ARE UFOs...or did
someone throw a pizza pie up into the
sky? The University Club members who
attended the April meeting could hardly wait
for our lecturer (and neighbor), David Paris, to
answer all questions pertaining to ETO’s, the
new designation for Unexplainable Extraterrestrial
Objects. David is an expert on all matters
aeronautical.
He reported that at a technical aerospace
conference he attended the question was asked,
”How many of you have ever seen unusual lights
in the sky?” One quarter of the participants at
that conference raised their hands. But when
he posed the question to our University Club
audience, there were only two. Between the
years 2001-2015, in the US there have been
120,000 reportings. Sightings are usually
reported to the police or the F.B.I. or the local
airport. The information is shared, collated,
and investigated. It was determined that 90% to
95% of the reports are explainable. One percent
turn out to be hoaxes, and the remainder are
unexplainable….SO FAR.
Aye, there’s the rub. Many things cause
observable unusual lights in the sky. They may
come from drones, satellite flares reflecting the
sun’s light, weather balloons, jet contrails, stars,
planets, flames from under hot air balloons,
or atmospheric conditions. Photos and videos
showed a number of examples.
One of the most intriguing patterns reported
was a circular shape with a hole in the
center. Under scrutiny it was determined that
Jets flying through a cloud could create this
formation. Confusions and assumptions are
made by the fact that we see only parts of
an object in the nighttime sky, not the entire
thing.
When the meeting ended, I asked David “Do
you believe in UFOs?” His answer: “Chances
are excellent there is intelligent life elsewhere
in the universe.” My reply: “I can only hope
they get here soon.”
Next University Club Meeting Thursday, June 20, 7:30pm
JOHN KENRICK on Fred Astaire
June 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 21