Elevator Experiment

Posted on July 23rd, 2004 in Amusements.

Normally I’m a stairs kind of person. Its not that I dislike elevators, I just think that as long as I’m physically capable and can spare an extra minute why not just get a bit of exercise? Or maybe its not an exercise thing. My earliest memory of stairing over elevatoring is a lighthouse visit on a family vacation somewhere in Michigan. The elevator ride up was fairly slow, so I thought a race would be in order on the way down. I think I made the 8 story descent in about 30 seconds and caught my breath long before the rest of the family emerged from the elevator at the bottom. And then there was the guidance office atop the 9 story math building at Purdue University. Every new semester compelled me to verify the total number of steps from ground 0 to floor 9 - like they may have added a few extra steps since my last count. Since I can’t remember the count, I’m certain to make another climb on my next visit to the campus (whenever that may be).

So anyway, recently I’ve been riding the elevator on a daily basis at the Oregon State University Lily Library (check out one of the cool time lapse movies if you’ve got a fast conection!). Today I was fascinated with the unwritten social rule that one must stand silent facing the doors after entering an elevator. I wondered what a person would do if upon entering an elevator they found everyone else in the elevator facing the back wall? What would win out: elevator etiquette or group pressure? The next time I have a few friends together who can’t decide how to entertain themselves, its off to find a fairly busy elevator! I’m curious the percentage of people that would face forward, face backward, and ask questions. Also, some way to photograph a person’s expression the moment the elevator doors open would be good.

If that experiment became boring, then maybe I could do an elevator version of Mark Horowitz’s Coffee in the Park. Maybe I’ve been missing out on elevator fun for too many years?

 

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3 responses

  1. WiseFool says:

    Added on July 23rd, 2004 at 6:03 am

    Ahh, what find memories I have of that stair climb at the Purdue University math building. I seem to recall that waiting for an elevator took longer than climbing the stairs not to mention all the stops before the 9th floor. I also seem to recall being in half way decent shape back then. Heck that might have been the last time I was in decent shape, a fact I am trying to change by the way. Maybe I should start by going back and climbing those stairs a few times.

  2. Scott says:

    Added on July 23rd, 2004 at 7:33 am

    Wisefool, you should come and visit me. By the time you walk from Michigan to Oregon I’m sure you’ll be in tip-top shape! When you get here, we’ll do elevator experiments on the helpless souls at OSU. Also we can stage an ultra slow-mo action scene in front of the webcam that will only be obvious when someone plays back the day’s time-lapse movie. (Just thought up this one this morning… I think it has some creative possibilities)

  3. WiseFool says:

    Added on July 23rd, 2004 at 8:00 am

    Well I don’t have your exact address but mapquest says that we are about 2470.06 miles apart. So if I start walking an averate of 24.7 miles a day it should take me about 100 days. Which would probably be just in time for Halloween! Think of the slow-mo show you can do on that day. Anyway I think my wife would be upset if I missed the birth of our first child, or the birth of any of our children for that matter so I’m going to have to decline the walk. Thanks for the invite though, I might decide to fly out there one day just for your experiments!

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