I keep looking around for things post to my page and then realize that I should say stuff with my own words, make my own stories, basicly become a source, not just a collection of what other’s peoples thoughts. Where should I start?
I guess I could refer to a comment that a friend of mine, Dave A., running around the “wonderful” city of Washington, DC, working for AARP, has pondered recently, The elevator conundrum.
Dave had just stepped into an elevator that was occupied by two women in the far corners of the elevator. He chooses to stand in the middle front of the elevator. I’m assuming he’s equidistant from both ladies. His conundrum is should he step off first and buck gentlemanly conduct, letting ladies off first, or shrink to the back wall and let them out. Personally, I would have moved to one of the other corners on the front wall. Corner filling of elevators is quite popular, no one whats to occupy that center space.
I’ve actually had a little fun thinking about what kinds of indepth “research” one could do on the psychological impact of elevators on human behavior. That’s what you get for working for Missouri’s largest public research institutions. One of the things I consider was movement before and after the doors closed. If Dave had gotten onto the elevator and immediatly gone to the back, it would have been preceived as acceptable. However, if he’d waited for the doors to close and then moved, would that have been perceived acceptable. Would the reactions change if the sex of the persons involved also changed? I believe it would. Also some to consider is that the number of people in the elevator affects accepable intrusion into personal space.
Consider the human need for personal space.
“Americans have a pattern that discourages physical contact, except in moments of intimacy. When we ride on a subway or crowded elevator we will “hold ourselves in”, having been taught from early childhood to avoid bodily contact with strangers. ”
“Behavioral study indicates that individuals perceive a distance that is appropriate for different types of messages; they also establish a comfortable distance for personal interaction and nonverbally define this as their personal space. Research supports the hypothesis that the violation of this personal space can have serious adverse effects on communication. Thus, if an individual is to be mutually satisfied in a communication encounter, his/her personal space must be respected. Should an intruder invade this personal space while also trespassing within territorial boundaries he placed himself in double jeopardy and must compensate for the other’s increased anxiety. ”
We haven’t even gotten into the minute body language keys that people give in designating who will get off the elevator first. I’ve observed what happens when there are only two people on the elevator and they are getting off on the same floor. The one that makes the first movements right before the door opens will usually be the one that gets off the elevator first. If both are still, both will either stand still as the door opens waiting for the door to open or both will start towards the door.
In Dave’s conundrum case there was a third option that wasn’t taken into consideration, this is an incident that I’ve witnessed. He could have stepped to the side of the elevator and indicated with slight hand or head movement that the ladies should proceed him. Who knows what the ladies would have done, it really depends on their generation? They might have thought “what a nice boy”, they might have blushed, thanked him, giggled and run off the elevator or they might have just thanked him or they could have said “thanks, but you can go ahead.”
