Holding the door for someone that is running toward the car is only appropriate when the car is empty or there is consensus among the passengers that it is ok to wait.
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Holding the Door
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
If you hold the door, you potentially delay the elevator not just for the people on it, but for the people waiting for it on other floors, whose consent you can’t have.
If you hold the door, you can “break” the elevator. This is a very expensive bad habit.
TIS SCENARIO REMINDS OF THIS BUS SHITUATION WHEN I WAS RUNNING MY ASS OFF AND THE BUS LADY SEEN ME AND SHE STILL LEFT/MAN WAS I PISSED OFF/SO FOR ME I WOULD HOLD IT EVEN IF THERE WAS PEOPLE IN IT/I MEAN HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE WOULD IT MAKE/OR BETTER YET I WOULD HANDLE THAT ACCORDINGLY/
okaaay…this is my particular pet peeve. i work in a hospital where people think they’re being helpful by holding the door open for people with their arm, standing in the doorway, blocking everybody coming or going….pushing the “open door” button does the same thing without being in the way. also, the door has a mechanism that makes it so if someone is in the doorway it will remain open so basically all these people are doin is holding everybody up and being all in the way just so they look like the big hero….so friggin irritatin.
I love to let the doors shut while someone is trying to get into the elevator. When I am alone and the person fails to get to the door in time, I love to give them my maniacal, evil laugh, as the door is just about to close.
Here’s a big “Don’t.” Do not stand in the elevator, holding the door, so you can continue your conversation with someone on the other side. If you are boarding, then stay off until you’re done. If they get off, and you want to keep talking, disembark with them. It’s truly irritating to be trapped because someone wants to finish their conversation, yet maintain their elevator space.
don’t mind holding for a mobil limited person…..door close fast these days. Older person can’t hear or see the signal very well. So I just direct them to the vator and then hold the door for them….piss people off? Too Bad. Wait till you are old and decrepit.
Disagree on this. If someone is running for the elevator it’s ruder to let a door slam in someone’s face than to delay the car six seconds. C’mon, there isn’t time to get a consensus. As far as the invisible people waiting on other floors, overall the time saved not having to send the car back to get one person is worth the delay.
What’s interesting about most of these elevator rules is that the equally apply to riding the subway–don’t hold the door, let people out first, etc. I find elevator etiquette is much worse in places (i.e., most of the country) where there’s no public transit by rail.
Initially I thought the no holding rule quite bizarre, but then I realised have never been in an elevator where people are in such a hurry. In department store lifts, people in the lift are only shopping and they can wait if someone wants to get on. I have never been in a lift that goes up more than 5 floors so I can’t voice my opinion on big office blocks (though surely it can’t be too disruptive to wait). Hospitals, maybe it would be a good plan to make them wait for the next lift. There are a lot of them, after all. But then again, even my local hospital cant be more than 15 stories (but I’m only ever on the seventh floor there, which is curiously the floor above the entrance :s).
avoid holding the open button for people running to the elevator. you just might save someone from an early death as the cables snap and you in the elevator wait as you go plunge to your selfish deaths…
I particularly like to hold the door for women running to catch the car so I can watch their boobs bounce. Then I move to the back after they enter so I can look at their butt during the ride. Courtesy certainly has its advantages.
It is not all right to hold the evelvator, even if the car is empty or all current passengers agree. There ARE people waiting on other floors for the darn thing to get to them.
I work in a two floor, one elevator building where the only stairs require a key to go up. I’ve waited for minutes on end while someone upstairs finished a conversation before finally getting on the evelator.
what are your thoughts on a situation where an elevator door is closing and someone sticks their hand in to force it to open to allow them on??
If you’re by the door and there’s room… hold it… if someone else has a problem with it… maybe they should embrace some patience. I don’t think anyone would run towards a door unless they felt some sense of urgency. Making no attempt to let them on is like saying that they aren’t a good enough judge of how quickly they need to reach their destination.
And another thing… if I’m running to reach an elevator, or shout for someone to hold the door.. it means I need to get where I’m going as quickly as possible. Not only am I going to stick my hand in the door, i’m gonna be pissed at the pompous jerk who decided it was more important for him to reach his destination than it was for me to reach mine.