About the Awkward Elevator
The social atmosphere created by elevators is inherently weird. It can’t be changed, it can only be observed and acknowledged because no matter what, elevator rides will forever be the hearth of awkward situations.
In the material sense, an elevator “is vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building” (WP). In the situational sense, elevators are clichés for awkward moments. The idea of cramming yourself into a box filled with strangers where there are no formal rules of etiquette or manners would sound strange if you weren’t thinking about it in context of riding an elevator, and even in context it’s weird.
I feel like there are a bunch of unwritten and unspoken rules for riding an elevator, but they’re inherited as a kid and some people never really catch on. Failure to abide by these unspoken rules will no doubt result in awkward situations.
My goal is to take these unwritten rules and write them down, adding my two cents on how you can avoid these situations. Spoiler alert: YOU CAN’T. They will always happen because elevators will always exist. In fact, when I started thinking about elevators as a topic, I realized that every single elevator ride has an awkward moment. It may be very very subtle, but it’s there. Anything from a moment’s eye contact with someone getting on who you know but don’t really know, to when a stranger says something that out of context that is so fucking hilarious that you can’t wait for them to get off so you can turn to a friend and simultaneously mouth “WTF?!”
