You swipe your badge to get into a secure set of elevators, and then instead of pressing an "up" or "down" button, you type in the floor you want to go to. Then the electronic display tells you which elevator door to stand in front of. When the door opens and you get on, you do nothing; the elevator is already programmed to take you where you need to go. There are only door open and close buttons inside, no floor buttons. Each elevator ride only serves a max of about 5 floors, all closely related. So I'll never stop at floor 3, 16, or 37 on my express ride to the 40's. It's great.
Today, however, the power went out right about the time I was packing up to leave. A few minutes later some back-up lighting came on, so I wasn't overly concerned.
I summoned the elevator.
Instead of assigning me a door, it said "not available". I have never lived or worked in towers as high as I do here, so it never occurred to me what might happen when the power goes out and the elevators stop working.
You walk.
And so I did. Down all 40-some flights to the bottom. Where I was greeted by a locked door.
Awesome.
Luckily, however, a guard opened the door from the other side the second I started pounding on it.
Crisis averted. Calf workout complete.
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| This was the standout moment of my day. How awesome is that. |
