@circuitsmith-- The same thing was true in the 4 story building where I taught. This building housed the math, computer science and English departments. If you wanted to get on the elevator on the first floor, you had to have a key. Faculty and handicapped students had keys. This was changed so that you could push the button on any floor. I usually walked the stairs to my third floor office.
I did happen to have a lot of books one day and decided to ride the elevator. We had a very arrogant faculty member from a foreign country whose office was on the 4th floor. A student pushed the button for the third floor and this faculty member became irate. She said, “Why did you push “3”? You could ride to the 4th floor and then push the button to come down to the third floor”. I wasn’t in a good mood that day, so I really screamed at my colleague. I told her that it was a public elevator and the student had the right to push the button for any floor she wanted. From that time on, this colleague walked the stairs if I was going to get on the elevator. I would sometimes use the elevator if this colleague was waiting just to let her get the exercise she needed in walking the stairs.
A tip of the hat to you, Triedaq. Nobody should stand by and watch a faculty member abuse a student… or any other living thing… without speaking up. You probably taught both the student AND the faculty member that day.
I find that story heartwarming. I have absolutely zero tolerance (not zero as in farenheight, zero as in KELVIN!) for bullying.
Where I work is a 2-storey building. We have an elevator, which is modern, but may be the only elevator I’ve ever seen that’s slower going down than up. It’s unofficially considered kind of sissy to take the elevator unless you’re carrying a heavy load, injured, or have a cart of stuff with you.
In my last full-time job, the 2-story building had an elevator, which I quickly learned was incredibly slow. Because of its slowness–as well as my desire for exercise whenever possible–I got into the habit of using the stairs.
A typical morning would have me walking into the building lobby with a bunch of female co-workers, all about 20-30 years younger than me, and almost of whom were grossly overweight. They would turn toward the right and get into the elevator, while I turned left and went for the stairs. I would almost always be at my desk before that group of women had even finished entering the security code to enter the office.
I don’t know whether their weight problems were the cause of their failure to use the stairs, or if it was one of the effects of their failure to use the stairs, but either way, these women needed all the exercise that they could get–and they got almost none.
Edited to add:
How the heck did we get from Gumout to elevators?
;-))