sitting there when you should be rising (of falling)

can you imagine being stuck in an elevator with two strangers, for forty minutes? um, it's never happened to me and i'm not sure that i would deal very well with that. small talk is obnoxious when you know someone. strangers. gack. forty minutes. when is that going to end?!

my friend was just stuck there, on the 17th floor. she played tetris. i think my main emotion would be anger, actually. and then the space would get warm, then hot. and there is no way out. it's probably better not to think about it, actually. play a game on the smartphone. hope for the best.

frustration also comes to mind. frustratingly close to other bodies. like it's tolerable in a cue, on the train, at the stampede. we really do have a lot of freedoms in society, that typically our personal space is our own. sitting here at a long table full of computers, there is no one in sight. i like that. there is no one's garlic/cigarette/coffee breath to smell or body odor.

and everyone would handle it differently. imagine if you were the calm one. and the girl next to you starts freaking out. what do you do then? become a crisis counsellor? reaffirm your safety? teach her breathing techniques?

you look at all the buildings downtown, and imagine all the elevators in their core. breakdowns must happen, the works coming to a stop. is there always someone stuck inbetween at any one time?

this is one reason why i don't ever want to work in the corporate world again - elevator anxiety.