Stuck

Going down? Not this time. So Monday night, I was excited for the new boot camp cycle. I left work a bit early and like any other day - got in the elevator to get to my car. I was joined by five other people. Everyone hit their button, the doors closed, the elevator moved, and then . . . . Nothing. The doors did not open. Sometimes the doors to these elevators are slow, so we waited a few seconds . . . Abracadabra. Nothing. Open sesame. Still nothing. We opened the inner elevator doors and discovered we were halfway between floors. Stuck. Below is the full story - I apologize that it's a bit long - but the insanity is in the details. Someone rang the little alarm. Not sure what that was supposed to do. Was someone going to say, "Hey, that's an alarm. Let's climb in the elevator shaft and help them?" Not likely. How many times have you heard the alarm and did anything? So we then hit the emergency telephone button, which is just a microphone and speaker built into the wall. Before we go further - I have to question why the phone is about 14 inches from the floor of the elevator. I get that is out of the way and hopefully is not used much. But when it is necessary - it is really inconvenient. The location either presumes you will be stuck there long enough so you are sitting on the floor (unacceptable) or that it's o.k. to try to talk to someone while bending over or squatting for long periods. Not very comfortable and definitely hard to hear. So, someone hits the button for the emergency phone. You would think the person on the other end would really only have three questions: Where are you? How many people are there? Is everyone o.k.? Not so much. The first question was, "I need you to confirm you are in an elevator." While we are obviously calling from one, I am not sure how many people think - "hey, let's crank call security and pretend we are in an elevator." I was immediately concerned. So the second question - appropriately - was which elevator. Then she asked how many people were in the elevator. I said "6," she said, "13?" Not so much and 13 does not sound anything like six - but I was guessing it had to do with the poor quality speaker in that phone 14 inches from the floor. So I said, "No 6 people. One, two, three, four, five, six. That's it." So the next question was - are you a tenant in the building? At which point we all looked at each other - who cares? Is it that if you are a tenatn you will get out quicker? So, I said "Yes." She then asks, which company. Now mind you, we are talking to the speaker by the floor and no one has called to get us out yet. So as we were saying, "we work for different companies, who cares?," one of the people in the elevator snapped. She bent over and screamed into the speaker in an accent: STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND GET US OUT OF HERE! (You have to say it with a eastern European accent - something like - Stoop assing kvestions n git oos ooot of hare). While we all thought it was a bit funny, we were also a bit concerned how she would hold up to an extended stay. So the voice coming from the speaker said - "o.k., I will call someone and get back to you." Silence. So we waited for a few minutes. Tick Tock. So the voice eventually comes back from the floor and says, "We called the elevator company." Now when you are stuck in an elevator you have two potential questions: 1) am I going to plunge to my death?; and 2) how long until I get out? None of us were too concerned with the first issue (only 6 stories in the parking garage), so we asked how long until they get here? And that's when the circus really began. Apparently, she did not think it was relevant to ask the elevator service company when she was on the phone how long it would take. So her response to us was, I called them but not sure when they will get here. So we asked, can you find out? To which she said, "well I just called them and I don't know." Needless to say there was much eye rolling in the elevator. She then asked if she could call on a cell phone because the elevator phone was hard to hear. (see above). So while I gave her my cell phone number, it turned out that in spite of my Verizon phone, the network was not there with me in the elevator. Tick tock. So after a few minutes I called security on someone else's cell. I decided we were tired of the run around - so I asked for a supervisor. When the supervisor got on the phone it went from bad to worse. The conversation went something like this: Him: Yes, I know you are stuck in the elevator and we called the elevator company. Me: Yes, I know that. How long until they get here? Him: We don't know? Me: Can you find out? Him: You are not listening to me, we called and do not know when they will be here. It was then I went into cross-examination mode hoping to jar some sense into him. Me: Now you are supervisor, right? Him: Right Me: And having 6 people in an elevator is a safety concern that is important to you, right? Him: Yes. Me: Then why don't you know how long we will be stuck in here? Him: Um, the person in the control center is handling this. Me: But you are her supervisor, right? Him: Um, right. Me: But having 6 people stuck in an elevator for more than 20 minutes is not important enough for you to find out what's going on? Him: (Pause) - You are not listening, we don't know when they are going to be here. Me: No, I am listening - you don't know anything and are not very helpful, even if you are a supervisor. Why can't you call the elevator company back. Him: (beginning to be very flustered) You are not listening. Me: You have a phone, right? And they have a phone, right? Why can't you just call them? Him: Well, now you are just being rude. Me: (Internal dialogue in my head: Your incompetence does not make me rude.) My actual dialogue: Can you find out when they will be here? Him: You are not listening and not helping things. Me: I am stuck in an elevator - not sure I am doing anything. Him: Are you a tenant in the building. Me: Why does that matter at this point in time. Him: (Getting quite flustered by now) - Is there a medical emergency? Me: Not yet. The conversation continued until he finally agreed to call the elevator company and let us know they were on their way and should be there in about 5 minutes. Tick Tock. (I will note that we had 2 volunteers willing to fake the medical emergency and get the paramedics to open the door within minutes. But we decided not to exercise that option.) After a few minutes the alarm in the elevator started to go off by itself because the doors were open for too long. At which point the phone near the floor started speaking "please don't push the alarm." We tried to tell her we weren't, but it was really a lost cause by then. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Finally after about 40 minutes the elevator begins to move. We go down, one floor, two floors, three floors. We stop. Finally the doors open, we quickly get out, and I begin my sprint across town to boot camp. Addendum: Building security called the next day to apologize. My favorite part of the message was, "We were just glad we were able to get you out." Which made me think - - have they ever had a situation where they just could not get someone out?