... I wish I could tell you I pressed ALL the buttons before stepping out...
There was such resonance when reading about Dave's elevator experience:
For those who know the building where I used to work, and who have actually been in those elevators.... you know how there are so many buttons to choose from, and we usually have to take two (sometimes THREE!!) different elevators to get to our floor.
So it's understandable to accidentally press the wrong button, right?
One day, there I was, getting into the lift with two other guys (total strangers). I hit the button for my floor, but as soon as I did it I realised I'd got it wrong. "Oooooops!" I said, and reached out to hit the right floor - but somehow I got it wrong again, lighting up yet another floor! "Urrgh!" I mutter, and only got it right on my THIRD stab.
All of which happenned to be lower than the other two guys' floor.
Ooops.
I'm about to flash an apologetic smile at these two guys, when one of them says "Gee, press them all lah, why don't you?"
For a moment, I didn't know where I was: I'd expect such sarcasm towards total strangers in the U.S. or something, but certainly NOT in Malaysia! Not in a lift that is essentially used just by employees of that particular company! So much for cohesiveness. And, wow, how unMalaysian!
I considered "defending" myself saying "I obviously didn't MEAN to hit the buttons wrongly!" but it occurred to me that actually it had been VERY obvious I didn't mean to hit all those buttons. Conclusion: the guy was just being a jerk.
So, instead of a smile, I turn to glare at him and his companion.
And for those on the recieving end of my glares, you know how deadly they are.
They looked away.
It didn't take long to get to my floor.
During that time, I seriously considered going ahead and pressing all those other floor buttons while looking directly at him, daring him to protest, while I say "Here you go, you jerk, you want it you got it!".
But I was still "young" and scared of offending people ... and with me being me [the curse of the half-breed who stands out without even trying], just because I didn't know them didn't mean they didn't know [of] ME! And Malaysia being Malaysia - I piss off the wrong person and *ooops* maybe my promotions and upgradings might take longer than usual, or I'd get bypassed totally... you never know... better not risk it...
... so I didn't do anything ...
One of those missed opportunities.
I'd like to think that my confidence in myself grew much more over the years, such that if I'd been in a similar situation in my last year or so in that company, I *would* have stepped up to the panel and hit every single button for every single floor while smiling politely at the jerk.
No way to test this hypothesis tho.
Oh well :-(
There was such resonance when reading about Dave's elevator experience:
For those who know the building where I used to work, and who have actually been in those elevators.... you know how there are so many buttons to choose from, and we usually have to take two (sometimes THREE!!) different elevators to get to our floor.
So it's understandable to accidentally press the wrong button, right?
One day, there I was, getting into the lift with two other guys (total strangers). I hit the button for my floor, but as soon as I did it I realised I'd got it wrong. "Oooooops!" I said, and reached out to hit the right floor - but somehow I got it wrong again, lighting up yet another floor! "Urrgh!" I mutter, and only got it right on my THIRD stab.
All of which happenned to be lower than the other two guys' floor.
Ooops.
I'm about to flash an apologetic smile at these two guys, when one of them says "Gee, press them all lah, why don't you?"
For a moment, I didn't know where I was: I'd expect such sarcasm towards total strangers in the U.S. or something, but certainly NOT in Malaysia! Not in a lift that is essentially used just by employees of that particular company! So much for cohesiveness. And, wow, how unMalaysian!
I considered "defending" myself saying "I obviously didn't MEAN to hit the buttons wrongly!" but it occurred to me that actually it had been VERY obvious I didn't mean to hit all those buttons. Conclusion: the guy was just being a jerk.
So, instead of a smile, I turn to glare at him and his companion.
And for those on the recieving end of my glares, you know how deadly they are.
They looked away.
It didn't take long to get to my floor.
During that time, I seriously considered going ahead and pressing all those other floor buttons while looking directly at him, daring him to protest, while I say "Here you go, you jerk, you want it you got it!".
But I was still "young" and scared of offending people ... and with me being me [the curse of the half-breed who stands out without even trying], just because I didn't know them didn't mean they didn't know [of] ME! And Malaysia being Malaysia - I piss off the wrong person and *ooops* maybe my promotions and upgradings might take longer than usual, or I'd get bypassed totally... you never know... better not risk it...
... so I didn't do anything ...
One of those missed opportunities.
I'd like to think that my confidence in myself grew much more over the years, such that if I'd been in a similar situation in my last year or so in that company, I *would* have stepped up to the panel and hit every single button for every single floor while smiling politely at the jerk.
No way to test this hypothesis tho.
Oh well :-(
I considered doing that myself, but it would have been only one extra stop in my case, so I thought it was just kind of petty. If there would have been a dozen floors between us, I probably would have been a total bastard and pressed them all!
ReplyDeleteKevin> omg that reminds me, when I was small i too used to do that hitting ALL the buttons cos they looked SO COOL all lit up. The one day, i stepped into an elevator that had all the buttons lit. And had to stop at every. single. floor. After that, I never did the "hit all the buttons" thing anymore. Halleujah, I was cured!
ReplyDeleteDave> true, it wouldn't have done much difference in your situation... oh well... maybe it's better that way - the irate lady might have attacked ya with more than just words then! :p