Good thing I'm not claustrophobic

I've had my morning chuckle already. I got into the hospital at 8:20 yesterday and still ended up being 5 minutes late into the office. Why's that? Because the newly renovated elevator decided to stop working just after I, and 10 other people got on it.

I think it was the first day the elevator was put into comission since it was renovated. We all piled into it, pushing our various floor buttons, and then the elevator sank several inches while the doors closed. Everything went still, followed by an electronic voice saying, "We are experiencing minor difficulties." Heh.

The safety features in the elevator left a lot to be desired. The people near the doors tried hitting a bunch of buttons but nothing was working. (I was at the back of the elevator.) The elevator told us to hit the alarm button but no one responded. I guess that someone finally found the "call an operator" button because an operator called into the elevator saying that she'd find someone.

Annoyingly, the woman nearest the control panel kept pushing the alarm button even though no one was obviously paying attention. Another few minutes crept by and she called the operator again. Unfortunately it seemed like the operator can't tell who's phoning her (e.g. no call display) so we had to go through the spiel again. I just thought it was obnoxious because the woman who was leaning on the alarm button told the operator, "Can you please hurry, it's getting really hot in here!" Yes, it was uncomfortably warm, but she was only saying it to try to make it seem like an emergency to get us out.

Another minute went by before someone finally called to us through the doors. The asked us to hit the "door open" button first. Gee, you think we didn't try that? They finally ended up having to pry the doors open to let us out. LOL. The whole experience wouldn't have been so bad, but it was too bloody hot in the elevator!

The only other elevator issue I've had was that I once accidentally hit the emergency call button in an elevator at Carleton University. The buttons in that elevator were really really low, and each was the size of my palm. I was juggling a bunch of grocery bags and accidentally knocked one bag against the button and then I had to wait for someone to answer so I could assure them it was a mistake.