August 12, 2004
Elevator Etiquette
I was running to the office elevator and since I made it in there by the skin of my teeth (my hand got caught in the elevator), I said thank you to the other people already there, and then I realized that one man had been pressing his floor's button - to close the doors. Should I have said, "Actually, thank YOU for trying to shut the door on my hand, you jerk?" or just glared at him. Is there such a thing as elevator etiquette?
-Jen
Well, actually... Miss Manners implies that this door closer is totally rude, and that the least he could have done would have been to give you a helpless "I was at the whim of the elevator mechanisms" shrug. We at Ask Gothamist, however, think that talking back to this guy would be equally rude, so we'd settle for just glaring at him. (Seriously, though, if you're that guy? And you see someone running for the elevator? You can wait the 30 seconds it will take for the runner to arrive.)
We also work in a tall midtown office tower, and deal with elevators several times a day, so we've basically seen it all. Older men tend to let the ladies go first, for instance, and the Help Desk at New York Magazine confirms that this should be the case. (Because, you know guys, it's not like you have to exert great physical effort to gesture towards the open door and say, "After you." Yeah, yeah, gender equality, but letting the women go first also prevents a mad dash for the door by establishing some order for who should walk out first.)
And don't take the elevator if you're only going up one floor, especially if there is a perfectly functional staircase close by, because that's just silly.
Another funny thing is the Law of Elevator Thermodynamics (™ Ask Gothamist's friend Dave) which states that all persons in an elevator at any given time will move as far away from each other as possible, such that they are all evenly distributed. We don't really know why this is true. But have you ever noticed that if you get into an elevator with three of your coworkers, the four of you will all wind up in opposite corners?
Here are some other elevator etiquette guidelines.
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Personally, I think it's rude to hold up an elevator by sticking your hand in when the doors are almost closed. You don't know how long those people have been standing there, or if any of THEM are in a hurry, and another elevator is sure to come along.
I think that elevator doors should have sharp serated edges to prevent hand-holding of them.
Whether to wait for someone to get on really depends on the particular elevator situation. In my office building, for example, the elevators are decrepit, and if you miss one you may be standing there for another 3 minutes until it goes all the way up, stops on every floor, and then comes down again. I always get really annoyed when there's only one elevator in operation but people shut you down anyway with only 2 or 3 people in the car! I feel if you see somebody running for the door, you should let them get in if there's room.
As for the women-first rule, I could take it or leave it, but I was shocked once when a guy ushered all the women he worked with out BEFORE him, but then cut me off and followed the last of his female co-workers out of the elevator! That's a major manners faux-pas! If you're going to abide by the Ladies First Rule, you have to let ALL the ladies out before you take your turn, for god sake!
It's a slippery slope letting that mad-dasher on. Let him on and you're opening the door, literally and figuratively, to a string of elevator-holder-uppers. I hit the Door Close button as fast as I can.
Only in New York would people even be having a debate about whether to let anyone onto an elevator or not. In any other city, if you don't hold the door open for someone who's obviously trying to get to the elevator in time, or worse -- intentionally try to close the door in someone's face -- you would 'out' yourself as a major asshole! Who begrudges someone a few seconds in the grand scheme of life for the sake of civility!? It's not like the subway, where time lost at every stop can make riders significantly late to their destination and delays all the trains behind it too.
True, we ARE in a hurry here, because we have important things to do. While I don't usually INTENTIONALLY close the door on people, I do routinely go to the back corner of the box where you can't see anyone coming. If you don't see them, you don't have to wait for them. Clever, huh?
I generally apply the old folks (and sometimes women) first rule to elevators and buses. But ironically, things go faster, particularly on buses if the able bodied get on/off first, so entry is not held up for everyone by the slowest moving.
But when I try to dash on first, so I can get out of the way by moving to the back of the bus, my move is often misunderstood as rude.
Politeness should comport when possible with functionality.
I've never seen a tie-up getting out of an elevator. When you get to the lobby, everyone steps off according to who is closest to the door. Genitals shouldn't be a factor.