Gentlemen should allow ladies to exit the elevator first unless you are blocking the doors.
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Ladies First
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A Practical Guide to Elevator Etiquette
Gentlemen should allow ladies to exit the elevator first unless you are blocking the doors.
>> Continue to: Exiting – The “My Floor” Rule …
Previous post: Stopping the Elevator
Next post: The “My Floor” Rule
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
If a man is inside an elevator and a woman is waiting to board, does the woman wait until the man exits to board? Or does the man wait until the woman boards to exit?
ladies first?
or letting someone exit first?
Thanks.
The man should definitely leave before the woman boards. If the lady enters, she will be between the man and the door and will make his egress awkward for both parties.
extra points for the use of the word ‘egress’.
It’s the same principle of any enclosed space: if someone is trying to enter as another is trying to exit, the person exiting should go first in order to create more space for the person entering.
But I’m not sure what to do when it is raining. Does it make sense that the person entering should go first to get out of the rain? Or will he get the person exiting all wet?
What an anazing site to waste time reading @ 3:33 AM. Luckily I live in a town that does not have elevators, therefore do not have to contend with these complex situations.
Thanks
Wow, your town has NO elevators? Not a single one? Do you live in that research station in Antarctica?
I wish my town had elevators.. Sounds like a source of amusement.
That’s no lady, that’s my wife!
He lives in a town with an elevation of zero.
KBH, how often does an elevator open directly into the rain?
DRB, your story isn’t adding up. You say you are reading this at 3:30 am, but the signature on your post says 5:30 am! Explain yourself. I think I speak for everyone here when I say we’re getting a little fed up with your lies and half-truthes. Stop trying to act so cool.
I have to say that I HATE the ladies first rule.
Sure, it is a nice thing for a gentleman to offer, but as a lady it is often awkward.
In my building, I am often in an elevator with maybe 10 men and one other lady. I work on one of the top floors, so I am often at the back of the elevator when it reaches the ground.
There is always a very awkward moment when the doors open, as the men have to wait for me to manouver around them to exit. I feel like I have wasted everyone’s time!
What are women doing in a place of business anyway? That’s silly, you should be home caring for the family.
I agree with Britney.
Ladies exit first sounds like an elevator rule of the 1950′s, when many fewer women rode elevators to office jobs every day.
My gorgeous, gallant husband agrees with the rule, but I say come on gents, this is 2006. Besides, an elevator isn’t the Titanic.
I live in NYC and every working woman I know agrees — if we are in our
$2,000 business suits and killer heels standing in an elevator filled with hardworking people waiting for their floor in a high rise office tower, whoever is getting out at a particular floor just STEP OUT when the doors open, PLEASE.
Gender makes no difference in some things, and riding an elevator is just one of those things.
We don’t have time to scramble around you. It’s awkward, inefficient, time-consuming and silly.
(One exeption: If it’s “Bring Your Children to Work Day” and I have my 5, 6 and 9 year olds with me, in which case, kindly step aside and make way for us!)
Yes, I realize the rule does stipulate ladies first unless a gentleman is blocking the doors. But the problem is of course, the guys still don’t want to step out first.
They want to get out of the way so that the lady in the back can maneuver around and get out first. (By that time the gentleman could have already been at his desk checking his e-mail.)
I ask the writer of the rule: what purpose, exactly, does it serve anyway?
Out before in obviously.
We do not have any “Lifts”, apologies to Mr Otis, in our town.
We do not have any buildings over two storeys in our town.
We do not have any traffic lights in our town.
We do have two roundabouts.
We have very little crime.
We have twenty miles of uncrowded beaches within minutes from the centre of town.
This is Opotiki, New Zealand.
We have lots of sun.
Eh Lift – Don’t tell those guys that Mr Otis isn’t around our towns. Someone there will see an ‘opportunity’ and before you know it we’ll lose our place on the stairway to heaven. – Te Puke
Have you tried Wonderbra?
Seriously, your warning was too late, had a call from a Mr Schindler, seems EBOP is on his list.Over and gone.Plenty of lift.
Oh boy, am I glad I’m a country gal and don’t have to deal with lifts and the arrogant attitudes of some people commenting here. Give me the care free friendliness of country folk any day.
How come there are three Kiwis in this discussion at present? I am from Wellington. Lots of elevators here and escalators or moving walkways.
The best tip a woman will ever get on this site is to NEVER EVER EVER dont even think about it for a sec just DO NOT get in an elevator alone with a man.
Away to check out Opotiki
))
In Sweden most of the really full lifts are to be found in department stores or shopping malls. Otherwise they are usually not so crowdwd. One thing has irritated med slightly with people exiting from a elevator: when elevators stop some persons, who are going further don’t “dare” to get out to let passangers exiting pass. They seem to be genuinely scared to be left behind if the step out of the lift and then back again a second later. Maybe Swedes worry to much..?
I’m from NZ too, but linked here from an american website. It’s all getting too spooky
PS Whoever said the comment about it being 3.33 am when the post time was 5.45 or whatever has obviously never heard of time zones
Okay, so as a lady I appreciate the “Ladies First” rule, however, who goes first when its two women and they are equidistant from the door? I figured the oldest woman goes first, but I don’t want to make an elevator faux pas!
I’m sorry, I cannot help myself, but comment #4, I really wish you would think of what you just said. “What if it’s raining?” Well, here’s the thing. An elevator is designed to tranport people from one floor to another INSIDE of a building. So unless the building has REALLY bad leakage, so what if its raining. Are you people for real?
In a crowded elevator, the people in front should exit first (think airplane.)When there are few people, a man should hold door open for others. In case of a couple, man should exit first, holding door for woman and then waiting to escort her or leading way to door, keys in hand. In every case, common sense should dictate procedure.
NO NO NO! PLEASE, I beg of you, stop it with the Ladies First thing! I hate the awkward position it puts me in!
I work on the top floor of my office building, so every day I ride the elevator from the bottom floor to the top floor. Of course, this means I’m always standing at the back of the elevator. About half the men in the building do “Ladies First” and half don’t, which means that there’s a good chance someone motion for me to go ahead of him. But it takes me a moment to realize he’s doing this, and in that time the elevator door starts closing again. My only other option is to regally glide to the door as though I think I’m so bloody special that I’m clearly entitled to go in front of everyone else, which I also hate doing. Plus there’s the awkward situation where I’m the only woman in the elevator and we get to a floor that’s not mine, and all the men wait for me to get out, and I have to explain that it isn’t my floor.
So please, just everyone get off when it’s your floor, get out of the tight enclosed space, and then we can classify ourselves into a hierarchy if necessary!
Good Lord! I truly cannot believe so many people get so wound up about common sense issues. Moreover, I’m amazed anyone is anal and bored enough to enumerate a list of rules for elevator etiquette: “Don’t defecate in the elevator.” You’ve got to be kidding me.
I like it when men are gentlemen and let me on or off the elevator first. I would like to comment to those cads who aren’t gentlemen “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” I think though, that some men don’t know what to do since the Women’s Lib thing started because perhaps some women have reacted negatively to their gentlemen ways. That’s too bad. They should be gentlement no matter what.
One essential to the rule: pregnant women. If she’s been on the elevator more than about ten minutes she’ll be racing to pee ASAP. Hold her up and you could end up with wet shoes.
ok let’s see here…if women get on first then they’re in the back of the elevator, (which seems wrong anyway) but now the men are between them and the door which clearly makes it easy for the women to leave first too. yeah, your rules suck.
While on the :Mauretania” as a young child, I learned a lesson in elevator manners by a member of the staff; when entering, you wait for anyone to exit before you begin to enter. You don’t just charge in the door.
A Lady: “NO NO NO! PLEASE, I beg of you, stop it with the Ladies First thing! I hate the awkward position it puts me in!”
Thank you for reminding us that it is not 1957. The author of these rules and many of the people commenting need this reminder.
Talking about proper manner, a gentleman should always let a lady enter a safe place first, and he himself exits to potentially unsafe place first. As an elevator may be considered as safe, and the outside may be considered as unsafe, therefore gentlemen should let ladies enter the elevator first, and he should exit the elevator first and hold the door for the ladies.
You people really make me wonder. The elevator is the safe place? Come on wooman want equal rights and they got them. They have to wait in line like the rest of us ok! Not only that but its rediculous that some woman truelly believe they have the right to go first. Example: on vacation with my family (and there’s about six of us, mostly male) when waiting for the elevator we went frist in an attempt to get to the back as to allow anyone else that wanted to get in to be closer to the door so they wouldn’t be stuck. This women jumped over my bags to get in first to hit her button. It was the same as our floor. She stays in the back. When we all reach the floor the woman tries to push past us. We ask her to politley wait as we attempt to get off. She glares at me then starts cussing me out because we didn’t let her off! She was like “Haven’t you ever heard the saying woman first you jackass!!!!” wtf what am I supposed to do?
Perfect example on why this “rule” is stupid!It doesen’t make sence.I believe we’re all equal.I mean what makes women so special to always be the first to come out of an elevator, or of anything?Who ever gets in first, gets in first;who ever gets out first, gets out first!
My boyfriend and I was on an elevator serveral times, I get out and I find myself waiting for him, because he letting what ever other lady is aboard the elevator to let out, finally I asked him not to do that so I am not waiting for him and everyone else, so in case what should the man do??? leave with me or stay and let all the other ladies out first, and I stay an wait till he’s done?