Shafted Etiquette
God tells me it’s time to make another public service announcement. So without further preamble, here it is: In an elevator, step to the front before the doors open on your floor.
It’s a simple thing but it makes life so much better for those of us waiting to board. What I see all the time is people extending great courtesy when they get in and ride the elevator. They enter and then immediately step to one side or other, and usually to the back as well. At least as soon as they’ve pressed the button for their floor.
That’s great. It makes it easy for people to come in behind them and find an open space in which to stand.
But then everyone is shy when it comes time to leave. No one wants to be the first one to step up to the door, so presumptuous, people might think they feel entitled to get out first, might think that they think their business is more important than everyone else’s. Well cut it out. What you’re doing instead is having the doors open with no one standing there, so those of us waiting to get in see an empty space just waiting for us, an inviting space giving us that come hither look. So we go for it, we start to move forward, so we can all get in before the door starts to buzz. But no. As we start forward someone inside the elevator suddenly steps from one side of the door, sometimes both, ready to get out now, as if they hadn’t known that their floor was due. Now we have to back up, possibly stepping on the toes of the people who moved up behind us and now we’re doing this awkward dance of stepping sideways and looking over shoulders and trying to make sure that we get out of the way of the people coming out but don’t end up completely shuffling the order in which we get in, just in case there won’t be enough room for everyone.
So please, if you’re getting off, stand right up there, front and center. It makes life a little better for everyone. I promise we won’t feel you’re presumptuous.
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