Here's the plan. In buildings with busy elevators the floor of the elevators can be marked with squares which describe a range of floors. People should attempt to stand as close to those areas as possible based on their destinations.

With proper planning, as few people as possible should have to move out of the way to let others on and off.

This whole thing is (of course) subject to human behavior. No enforcement is really possible, but eventually it might become one of those things (like staying to the right on escalators) which we do instinctively.
-- spaceman_spiff, Jan 22 2002

half-baked in this one http://www.halfbake...evator_20Partitions
same sort of idea [po, Jan 22 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Might work in one direction but it wouldn't in the other. Do people really stay toward the right on escalators?
-- phoenix, Jan 22 2002


I believe this is half-baked already in various ways
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Would it work in both directions if the indicators were LEDs or something similar in the floor panel? They could change with the direction of motion.
-- spaceman_spiff, Jan 22 2002


I quite like squishing in there with a lot of people...there's something about invading people's personal space on a grand scale that makes it funny.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


its called frotteurism, Helium.
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Absolutely not what I was suggesting po.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


Too late I saw that annotation you just deleted po hehehe.

I meant squishing as a general term..maybe it means something different where you come from.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


our little secret hehehehe - squishing = squashing, sorry I didn't mean you personally honest, honest. I cannot bear being hugged suddenly from behind and my social "bubble" is fairly large. I always want to scream in crowded places like trains.
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Trying to maintain your dignity when everyone is standing two inches from you, and the hair up your nose belongs to the lady in front of you, is what amuses me.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


horrible and where do your hands go?
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Too late I saw that annotation you just deleted Helium hehehe.
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Well when I saw you delete the second one I thought I'd play you at your own game.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


what second one? I'll show you mine, if you ... perhaps not.
-- po, Jan 22 2002


The second half of the sentence about frotteurism.
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


that was a kneejerk reaction - sorry
-- po, Jan 22 2002


And I beat up thumbwax for you and everything :-P
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


this crowded lift has suddenly emptied and we are here alone - isn't that nice we can breathe our own air and have our own space. I think I get off at this floor. nice to have chatted Helium, see you tomorrow?
-- po, Jan 22 2002


oh yes I forgot, thank you for looking after me when that horrid thumbwax was being nasty to me. TTFN
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Was it as good for you as it was for me?
-- Helium, Jan 22 2002


well that squishy thing was a bit off but the conversation was lively
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Sorry to intrude, but.

You know those little tile games with one tile missing and you have to slide the empty space around to get the tiles to form a picture and it's easy at first but gets much harder as you approach the last tiles? How about making the elevator floor a big one of these, one person per tile, chosen or assigned as you enter, but your tile must be maneuvered to the elevator door if you want to exit. It would give the elevator occupants a reason to engage in teamwork between floors, thus eliminating the awkwardness.
-- beauxeault, Jan 22 2002


excuse me but this lift is FULL - get the next one
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Oh, you don't get your own space yet. You're going to the floor above [po] so you have to stand immediately behind her. No squashing or squishing, either.
-- phoenix, Jan 22 2002


what a spoil sport <sulks>
-- po, Jan 22 2002


Elevator hijinks: Take the position nearest the door, front and center in a crowded elevator. When the door opens to a crowd standing there, facing the open elevator, behave as if someone behind you has really given you a healthy goose. Don't worry about who is behind you! Trust that they'll have a sense of humor! Then "answer" your cell phone and press the "play comedy script" button while holding up everyone trying to either get in or get off, and regale them with even more hilarity! Instant popularity! Hearty handshakes all around! A new branch of detective expertise: tracing shoe patterns in dead flesh!
-- entremanure, Jan 23 2002


[po] and [Helium]: Can I refer you to the bit where [jutta] says that every annotation takes up disk space, and the disk's nearly full? :-}
-- angel, Jan 23 2002


I was hoping this would be a dessert or a game show.
-- waugsqueke, Jan 23 2002


paint footprints facing in all sorts of directions...like elevator twister...
-- shelley2, Nov 04 2002


Otis has just introduced an elevator control system that you press your floor number at the entrance of the elevator bank and it directs you to the appropriate elevator- doing your square dance automatically.
-- Creation is a patient search, Nov 28 2003



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