brandon [email] said at 11:18 AM 10-14-2008: I was going to ask if there was any "love in the elevator" but I guess, there wasn't. Or, I guess that there could have been. Were fire-fighters involved? Were they schweaty?
meredith [email] said at 11:30 AM 10-14-2008: No firefighters, just building security. And yeah, no one else was in the elevator. And I had nothing with me but my ticket with which to claim my newly soled shoes, so it was pretty boring. The building security guy did give me a big hug when they got me out though.
meredith [email] said at 3:11 PM 10-14-2008: Unfortunately there was no emergency phone. Just a disembodied voice that I summoned by pushing the Alarm Button.
rick [email] said at 12:45 PM 10-14-2008: There is a part from the book Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut, involved one of the characters talking about how as a child he was once stuck in an elevator and how he thought it was a major crisis and the whole nation, from the President on down, was waiting to hear from him, and when the doors opened, there would be a big commotion and excitement that he had survived.
Instead, there were just bored people waiting to use the stuck elevator.
meredith [email] said at 12:12 PM 10-14-2008: There was no musak. Just someone on an intercom going "Did you try the Door Open button?" Uh, yes. A couple of times. Before I hit the 'Alarm' button.
john [email] said at 12:27 PM 10-14-2008: Did you have a plan B of possibly removing a couple of elevator ceiling tiles and climbing out through the elevator shaft? I've always wanted to do that.
meredith [email] said at 12:32 PM 10-14-2008: No, there's like a metal fixture with lights hanging from the ceiling. I was glad that I had researched the best position to be in to ensure survival in a falling elevator a few years ago though.
meredith [email] said at 4:27 PM 10-14-2008: Ha ha! Apparently the best position to be in is lying down. This way the impact is spread out through more of your body instead of being concentrated on a smaller area. It will still be quite painful, but you have a better chance of survival.
meredith [email] said at 6:13 PM 10-14-2008: Nope. Sorry. You will still be moving downward at a very high velocity. Your legs do not have the strength to reverse you at the same speed as the elevator is already hurling you down.
art [email] said at 11:14 AM 10-15-2008: The idea of an elevator plunging to the ground is Hollywood fiction.
Elevators have brakes on them since the mid 1800s to keep them from free-falling to the bottom, although you would likely have a fun zero-g ride for a floor or so.
woody [email] said at 11:29 AM 10-15-2008: I don't know how, but I became convinced at one point that all modern elevators were designed to take advantage of Lenz's law, using induction coils and magnets to ensure they could never freefall. But I think Art makes more sense. They must have very reliable and inexpensive emergency brakes. The other would be too expensive I think. But it would be so cool!!!
meredith [email] said at 1:04 PM 10-15-2008: Yeah, they do have breaks. But I think these kinds of survival things are always good to know anyway. I also know the best way to survive a bear or tiger attack and how to get out of quicksand.
brandon [email] said at 4:28 PM 10-15-2008: Not to burst anyone's bubble about surviving a rampaging elevator attack. But, apparently if an elevator fails and you fall, the OTIS folks are of the opinion that dead is dead, whether you're horizontally dead or vertically so. The good news is with the redundant safety features and the governor line, the only way the elevator is going to fall is if (1) it's grossly overloaded to the point it snaps the governor lines and overcomes all of the safety brakes lining the shaft all the way down (2) the buildings actual structure has been compromised changing the shape of the shaft. Sorry. I have to write "shaft" in uppercase. SHAFT.
brandon [email] said at 6:54 PM 10-15-2008: Not I, I would take every effort to achieve the most convoluted position while removing the maximum amount of clothing. I'm going to die, so, I at least want to amuse or befuddle the investigators.
art [email] said at 4:40 PM 10-15-2008: That would be your edge! Unlike all the weenies out there that want to prove that they can survive anything, you alone will be The Reluctant Survivalist.
meredith [email] said at 6:20 PM 10-15-2008: The thing is, with like, the Tiger and the Elevator thing... yeah, you could survive, but you're going to be maimed.. I don't want to be maimed.
julie [email] said at 4:00 PM 10-15-2008: I have a book of these emergency survival techniques in my bathroom right now. There's all this MacGyver shit you can make from, like, a seatbelt and a pair of fingernail clippers.
julie [email] said at 6:35 PM 10-14-2008: It could've been much worse. Did you read this back in April, or watch the accompanying creepy video footage from the security camera? This dude's entire life was ruined by being trapped in an elevator for 41 hours over the weekend (hence no one was in the building to notice he was trapped)....
I'm glad you made it out ok, and didn't have to pee in there. (???)
meredith [email] said at 7:53 PM 10-14-2008: Wow. That sucks. I wasn't in there for long at all. I attempted napping way before he did. That does explain a little more of why the security people were treating me like I might freak out at any second though.
brandon [email] said at 4:31 PM 10-15-2008: Next time, take your pants off before they open the door. That'll make them feel really bad. They'll be like, things were so awful for this girl. She had to take her pants off.
julie [email] said at 10:29 PM 10-18-2008: After rethinking this story, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that you didn't use your formidable ninja skills to escape. After all, grasshopper, one must always ask onesself:
brandon [email] said at 9:59 AM 10-20-2008: I wish everyone in the world could get stuck in one big comfy elevator. One that lifts us all up to a brighter future. And when the doors finally open, hugs for everyone.
