"Only the shallow know themselves."
Today, I have an etiquette question for the masses reading my blog aka my mother. How appropriate is it to run up and down escalators? I'd never noticed this phenomenon until I started working downtown about a year ago. Mostly it happens while people are going in and out of the bus tunnel. People can get pretty intense. Once, I saw a guy push an old lady out of the way. Granted, she didn't seem like the sweet type of old lady; but still, pushing the elderly just seems out of line. As you can see, people are pretty serious about the whole running thing.
Usually, I stand firm against said behavior and take my leisurely time unless someone is running behind me and I don't feel like being completely belligerent that day or they look really strong. My position is not informed by principles of sheer laziness, but rather ones of safety. Escalators are not simply moving stairs but are a separate beast all together. They are shaped funny and kind of hard to walk on and they can suck you down to the underworld if you're not careful. I will also admit that I find the escalator rest-breaks good transition zones between the different parts of my day. They are excellent places to daydream, not as good as cars but close. I also sometimes like to imagine as I'm riding up one that I'm a superhero about to make a dramatic entrance in the bad guy's lair and save the day. So as you can see, I have very valid reasons for just standing there as the world passes me by, but lately I've been re-evaluating my anti position because every one else is doing it. What do you think? Should I start running up and down the escalators even though it will cut into my precious thinking time?
If you can't get enough of today's escalator topic, you should check out the novel Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker. It's about a guy's ride up an escalator during his lunch break and it's brilliant. One time that book saved me on a family camping trip from having to do awful things like participate.
http://www.amazon.com/Mezzanine-Nicholson-Baker/dp/0679725768/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247168524&sr=8-1
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Did you ever see that X-Files episode with the liver-eating guy that lived under the escalator? Something to think about...
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