Ever heard of elevator etiquette?

Let’s talk about elevator etiquette.

Scenario 1

It’s 12.15pm. You have a midterm at 12.30pm. Your walk to class takes 15 minutes.

So basically, you’re already late.

You impatiently wait for the elevator and when it finally stops at your floor, you walk in and press 1, hoping that it will be a non-stop ride to the bottom so you could get to your midterm ASAP. Few seconds pass by, and the elevator stops on the fourth floor. A girl walks in without laundry or anything in her hands, presses 2, takes out her phone and checks her notification nonchalantly.

Scenario 2

After a long day, you just want to get back to your room and relax. You walk into the elevator and press your floor number (let’s say it’s 12). Several people walk in later and press 11, 10 and 9.

Scenario 3

Around lunch time, you walk into the elevator with a couple of other people. Some are holding takeout boxes, some are holding cups and some are holding one or two cookies in their hands. The elevator becomes packed, and as people leave, you see one entire cookie left on the floor. You start asking yourself: did the owner of the cookie not think about picking it up?

Scenario 4

After a party, you come back at 3am on a Saturday. You wait for the elevator in the lobby, and when it comes and the elevator doors open, you realize that someone vomited on the floor. So nope, there is no way you are going in that elevator.

Ever been in the aforementioned scenarios?

I have.

Multiple times.

So much so that I just had to call out a guy who did not have any elevator etiquette. And guess what I got as a response? He said, “Bitch, you need to chill the fuck out.” (Note: the guy in the photo is not the same guy who said this!)

Alright bro, I’ll chill. But it still won’t stop me from promoting it. Elevator etiquette is such a small yet important courtesy everyone should pay attention to. Granted, if you are carrying heavy objects or have any pain or discomfort, everyone else should have the courtesy to not mind you pressing one floor above/below a floor another person has already pressed. However, if there are no other reasons, why not walk up or down a flight of stairs? Not only does it show respect to others who are in the elevator, but it is also a great time for a brief exercise in our busy lives. Also, let’s be real, occasionally taking the stairs can be faster than the elevator, especially when people are piling up so much they are not allowing the elevator doors to close.

Well, anyways, I’ll end this with a shoutout to the few people I briefly met in the elevator who took the stairs to go up/down a floor, practicing elevator etiquette. Thank you and good job!