Pressing Floor Buttons
i. No re-pressing
Pay attention to which buttons have been pressed when you enter the elevator. Once a button has been pressed, nothing more can be done. Re-pressing the floor button will not make the elevator get you to your floor any faster. Re-pressing is disrespectful to the person that has already pressed the button and is generally irritating.
ii. Press for others
If you find yourself close to the button panel in an elevator, you have the additional responsibility of button management. It is your job to make sure the other riders have had the button for their floor pressed. This keeps people from reaching through a crowd to the button panel and eliminates the stress for those that cannot reach the buttons.
Regardless of your position, if you are asked to press a button, it is proper to press the button as requested or pass the request on to the closest person to the button panel.
iii. Make a mistake?
Take steps to ensure that the only buttons being pressed are the ones for which floor a passenger must exit. However, in the event that you mistakenly press a button for the wrong floor, wait until the doors open on that floor and apologize to those who remain in the elevator. You may press the door closed buttons to cut down on wasted time.
>> Continue to: Once the Doors Close – Baggage and Elevators …
December 19th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Sometimes it seems that people re-press their floor button as an inconspicuous way to announce which floor is their destination. Thereby allowing the rest of the car to anticipate that person’s disembarking. This site overplays this imagined “disrespect” of pointless multiple button pushes.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:08 am
What if the light bulb is burnt out and the floor doesn’t light up? Surely one can’t be expected to ask all the other riders if they’ve already pressed your floor. In that case, I think re-pressing is acceptable.
Also, is it the responsibility of the rider to report this light bulb outage to building maintenance personnel?
January 19th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Oh for a return to the days of the human elevator operator. I like the elevators that talk to me and the vision impaired. “Second floor. Going up.” “Seventh floor. Going down.” “Doors opening. Mind the gap.”
January 19th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
i’ve always wanted to run my hands over all the buttons in an elevator. and get off on the next floor.
just for fun.
January 19th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
My favorite thing to do is press the alarm button very quickly,,, 9 times out of 10-it sounds just like a bell for the gate for a horse race.
AND THEY’RE OFF!!!! and I go into the track announcer speed voice.
January 20th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I like to hold the door close button at the same time that I press my floor button which has the desired effect of expressing you to your designated floor while ignoring the intermediate floors that have been called. It works on most elevators unless the feature has been disabled and it won’t stop for selected floors inside the elevator or for people waiting after calling for a car, it shoots right past them to YOUR floor
January 22nd, 2006 at 1:08 pm
If you’re irritated by someone pushing a button that you’ve already pushed, you’ve got issues far worse than elevator ettiquette. Try some Prozac, dude!
January 22nd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Re-pressor, consider this: It’s not really repressing if the light has burned out, because you have no way of knowing it had been previously pressed. Thus, I think there is little room for offense in this situation. If, however, I push the button, it lights up, and then you REPUSH it, I am entitled to slap you in the face.
January 23rd, 2006 at 10:47 am
to comment #4 it is fun…until you are the one getting ON at the next floor. Here’s a better one push the call button run up the stairs to the next floor and do the same thing repeat until you’ve covered all floors. you accomplish the same effect but an added bonus people look stupidly out the door wondering where the person is that pushed the button
January 23rd, 2006 at 4:37 pm
monkeybone: Actually, everyone knows the person who pushed the buttons and ran off is the same person that is being treated for a coronary in the stairwell between floors 14 and 15.
January 24th, 2006 at 8:25 am
Better still, stick your head in the door when the elevator arrives, push a button or two, and run away. This is only effective if other people are on the elevator, and you don’t work or live in that building.
January 24th, 2006 at 8:59 am
to comment 4 & 10…imagine being on the 30th floor of a hotel (going down to the 1st) with hundreds of middle school kids on some kind of state pin convention…several of the kids have state pins and ask you if you have a pin, and you don’t. They get ticked off at you and decide to press all of the buttons to get back at you. You could change elevators, but the kids are on the floors below you and are playing in the elevators. It’s too much to walk down 29-30 flights of stairs, but it’s good exercise. So, what do you do? Talking to the chaperone’s isn’t good because they think it’s funny. Talking to the hotel management isn’t good because the chaperones and kids blow them off.
January 30th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Why is it that once a button for a floor is pressed, you can’t re-press it to cancel that particular selection? This would save so many wasted stops on an elevator ride as it often happens that someone gets confused and presses for the wrong floor!
February 11th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Different elevators have slightly different button layouts, and sometimes it takes a second to locate the “door close” button. If you’re on an elevator that’s slow to close its door, many times pushing a floor button will kick the car out of its reverie and put it back to work…even if it’s a floor button that’s already been pressed.
Since it’s almost always easy to find the correct floor button in a half second, whereas it might take a couple of seconds to locate the “door close” button, I think that is an acceptable way to minimize the delay to the other car occupants, and therefore a repeated floor pusher should be slap-exempt.
March 12th, 2006 at 9:48 am
If I am in a position to “take” control of the door buttons. I always say going up: mens underwear. going down: it’s Ladies undergarments. this always raises a laugh.
January 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Another rule that should be here:
If you are the parent of a small chiild, it IS NOT cute when your child presses every button and holds up everyone else. They could be late for a job interview or important meeting or their next unsulin shot (try going into a diabetic coma because someone’s kid is using the elevator as a toy and you can’t get to your floor where your insulin is)! If your parenting skills are so poor that your child hasn’t learned to behave like a human being in public, then hold their hands until you get to your floor. Or buy them appropriate toys.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
When I was living in the dorms in college, we discovered that you could “cancel” a button that was already pushed by holding down the button for the current floor while simultaneously pushing the button for the floor you want to cancel. I don’t know how many other elevators this works on.
April 15th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I don’t understand why anyone would care whether or not I repressed a button? It really doesn’t affect anything. Maybe people are just looking for a reason to be annoyed.
April 15th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
It’s just automatic to enter the elevator and press the button to your floor. It’s actually funny to realize what a dumdum thing you did, especially when you followed your coworker onto the elevator. It’s a little freaky though, when you get on and your floor is already pushed. Then you have to look at everyone to recognize your coworker who had been on before you.
November 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Okay youve talked about little babies pressing all the buttons but what should you do if some one the same age as you does it what should u do then?
February 26th, 2008 at 11:42 am
when not paying attention and the elevator stops, you get off on the wrong floor, never turn aorund and get backon, if you catch your mistake in midswing, dont be like tiger and stop, continue on and pretend you are actually at your destination, walk around the corner, look at your cell, find the stairs or go the the bathroom, then return to the elevator. This keeps you from looking like an idiot, especailly if you do this alot.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I like to get on a crowded elevator and when they ask me what floor, I say “Surprise Me!” Then I turn to face them and back out at the next stop, making sure to maintain eye contact.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Trex, you’re an idiot.