The elevator isn't a free-for-all ride
Olivia Schuenke
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Opinion
If you have class on any floor other than the first in Harvey Hall, then you’re all too familiar with the never-ending stairwell. Try to think of it this way: You’re running late for class, having just walked from North campus or up the Harvey Hall hill from south campus, so now you are sweaty and out of breath. As you enter Harvey Hall, you see that the elevator doors are open and they seem to be calling your name. “Come on!” it says, “There isn’t anyone who needs to use the elevator right now, and it won’t hurt to use it just this one time.” As you board the elevator and ascend to your third or fourth floor destination, you can’t help but shake a feeling of guilt. Your guilt is probably letting you know that there IS someone who needs to use the elevator but they have to wait while you, who are perfectly capable of taking the stairs, ride up without hesitation.
As a person who has a physical handicap and who has an incredibly hard time walking up three or four flights of stairs, I can’t tell you what a pet peeve it is to get into Harvey Hall and see the elevator door closing behind 10 youthful, 20-year-olds who are too lazy to take the stairs. I also have encountered many times when the elevator doors open and it is completely packed with people, yet no one gets out to let anyone else on.
Even though walking up the stairs is incredibly hard for me, I still have enough courtesy to always take the stairs down, but on the rare occasion when I have taken the elevator down, I am astounded to find physically fit people waltzing into the elevator and going down two or three floors. How pathetic is that? The University of Wisconsin-Stout has taken the time to consider those who cannot walk or have a hard time getting up and down the stairs. Maybe if you take the elevator and don’t physically need to, next time you’ll be more considerate of those people as well and take the stairs.
As a person who has a physical handicap and who has an incredibly hard time walking up three or four flights of stairs, I can’t tell you what a pet peeve it is to get into Harvey Hall and see the elevator door closing behind 10 youthful, 20-year-olds who are too lazy to take the stairs. I also have encountered many times when the elevator doors open and it is completely packed with people, yet no one gets out to let anyone else on.
Even though walking up the stairs is incredibly hard for me, I still have enough courtesy to always take the stairs down, but on the rare occasion when I have taken the elevator down, I am astounded to find physically fit people waltzing into the elevator and going down two or three floors. How pathetic is that? The University of Wisconsin-Stout has taken the time to consider those who cannot walk or have a hard time getting up and down the stairs. Maybe if you take the elevator and don’t physically need to, next time you’ll be more considerate of those people as well and take the stairs.
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