If you’ve ever been on an elevator you understand the sensation of feeling like you’re going up and down at the same time. They have a way of tricking you, teasing your senses. Elevators were a major breakthrough, and, with Elijah Otis’ safety break, they became a unique mode of transportation all over the world. People who had the job of controlling these thrilling machines were called elevator operators. I think being an elevator operator would have been an ideal job.
Have you ever read The Elevator Family? This book caught my attention for several reasons. One, I love elevators, they give you a feeling nothing else can. Two, it’s such an interesting thought. What if somebody actually lived in an elevator? Three, I’m a people watcher. I enjoy watching people, seeing their life unfold, guessing who they are, where they’re from, and where they’re going. Lots of people go on elevators, and being an operator gave plenty of opportunity to watch them. “It’s fun, I get to meet a lot of interesting people.” Said Eleanor Adame, a former elevator operator in Kansas. She had fun doing her work, which is a revolutionary concept in this time and age.
I like variation. I wouldn’t want a job where I did the same thing all day, every day. I wouldn’t even want to be in the same position all day! Elevator operators could stand, lean against the wall, and in some elevators, sit. Elevator operating took skill, each time they stopped at a different floor they had to stop at just the right time to line up the elevator floor with the outside floor. It was challenging, and took lots of practice. They had to go through special training before operating an elevator. Each day was different, different people, different floors, an interesting workplace, being in the middle of the action. Yes, you’re going to the same floors everyday, but different things are going on, different people are roaming around, and you do it all in a different order!
Now, I must devote a section to elevators themselves. I don’t know why I love elevators, maybe it stems from my relatives who have an elevator in their house, or that they were novel in the small town I spent four and a half years of my life in. Whatever the reason, I love elevators, and they would have been an unparalleled place to spend most of my life in.
There are many perks to elevator operating, variety, people-watching, and just elevators themselves. It would have been a great job to support me while I write, challenging and variable at the same time. I think operating an elevator would have been a spectacular job, and just maybe I could’ve figured out where that up and down effect comes from.