Trapped in an Elevator

A couple of weeks ago I was heading out of work. The building I work in has a separate elevator for the parking deck and I always park on the 6th floor since sometimes I get in late and I don’t like to have to remember what floor I parked on. There’s always spots available on 6 so I always park there. I get into the elevator for the parking deck.

I am listening to my book, Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, Book 1) by the recently deceased David Eddings. As the elevator rose I felt a lurch and the elevator felt like it dropped a few inches and then it stopped moving. My heart was in my throat and pounding a mile a minute. I waited a moment and when the elevator did not start again, I pressed the call button.

The security station down by the front doors answered my call. The charming lady on the other end of the intercom was reassuring and told me that they were sending some of their maintenance people to try to get me out and they were calling the Otis folks.

I guess if you are going to get stuck in an elevator this one is not that bad. I work in the Ravinia 3 building near Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Georgia. The grounds are beautiful. There is a Crowne Plaza at the front of the property and the area between the Crowne Plaza and the office buildings behind it is landscaped with paths and a small pond. It really is one of the nicest office complexes in the Atlanta area. There are also gardens in the atrium which is a large area enclosed in tinted glass between the main Ravinia 3 high rise and the parking deck. The elevators have a glass back and look out over these gardens with a water feature that ends in a water fall that falls into a pond that surrounds the base of the elevator shafts.

I settle in for a wait. The maintenance guys are unable to get the doors open. I am stuck between the 2nd and 3rd floors with the top half of the elevator door opening to the third floor. It took quite some time to get someone over there from the service company in the middle of rush hour on a Friday evening.

Eventually they got the door open. Now, I am a large person. There was no way for me to climb out of this elevator. As I said the top part of the door was open to the third floor but it was just under shoulder high for me. I handed my bag up to the men helping me out but did not see how I was going to climb out. Then one of the men jumped down into the elevator, crouched down, and said “Step on my back, I’m stronger than I look”! I hesitated. It feels wrong to step on someone. The idea of it just seemed like I was disrespecting him. I quickly reasoned that I was disrespecting him by rejecting his gallant assistance. So I quickly stepped on his back and the other men helped me pull myself out.

After getting out, I went to seek the lady who checked in on me every so often over the intercom to let her know I appreciated her attentiveness and kind words.

All in all, I learned something about the men and women that are the support staff at Ravinia 3. While I never disregarded or disrespected them I certainly did not notice them very much. That may be by design. They stay unobtrusively out of the way until they are needed. When they are, they jump to their duty and perform it with courtesy and professionalism. I think we can all strive to have just such a work ethic. Those men and women deserve my thanks and everyone’s respect.