The Lift Phenomenon

Sometimes I am thrilled by human nature, other times I’m horrified. But mainly I’m intrigued. Like The Lift Phenomenon, for instance. What's that all about? I work on the fifth floor of a lovely, old building with an angel on top of it. Due to the fact that it is old, it has old lifts too. And they are somewhat rickety and can be a little bit, well, let’s just say, tardy. They're the type of lifts urban legends are made of - there are many, many stuck-in-the-lift-stories here. But, mostly, there are complaints of their slowness.

The thing is this though, why is it that people think that if they keep pushing the button (often viciously), the lift will come quicker? Do they really think that they have some super-power-like energy which travels directly from their finger tip, through the electrical wiring, to the little box that tells the lift that someone is looking for it, making the lift jump to attention, go faster to the floor that it was taking its current passengers, whip its door open and push its passengers out, and then whizz back down to pick up the impatient twit with a pressy finger and a super-power-complex? I think not.

It’s pretty obvious it’s Monday in my world, isn’t it?