Two Hours in a Box

[VDL_Piper]

Title edited for caps.

Well my trip to the big smoke is going brilliantly! Last night after a wonderful meal and drinks, myself and the better half spent 2 hours locked in an elevator with 8 other people. Tried the phone in the elevator and got asked to push a few buttons to trouble shoot which I did, response was “yeah it’s stuck”, no shit Sherlock! How long until you get here? was my next question………3 hours was the reply. At this point I made a management decision to call 000 and get the fire department. They arrived swiftly and got some airflow to us through the roof whilst they found a way to get us out. Ladders, harnesses and a less than dignified exit for the lady folk wearing dresses, we all clambered out of the hole.

Needless to say the hotel management where we are staying won’t be able to sit down this morning after the arse reaming I gave them last night but truly, what’s the attraction of big city living? You wait in lines for everything, cars spend more time idling than they do driving, no one smiles or says hello, everyone is dressed in black with phones mounted on their noses like that thing out of the Alien movies, geeez I could write a book about the unsavory things I’ve seen here this trip but then there is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. People are as dumb as a dog turd, won’t take responsibility, they deflect onto someone or something else. It starts at management and knocks on down to staff at all levels. Everyone seems to not want to get involved, little wonder politicians are running rampant across the globe if what I’ve seen this trip is a cross section of the population.

I live a pretty quiet, isolated life granted but the shit I’ve seen over the last few days really has me scratching my head. I think it’s time for the meteor to hit because as a species we have peaked.

As an aside the high point to the trip was to see some of our beef in a steakhouse down here. Strip loin, eye fillet, tomahawks and slow cooked briskets on the menu with prices ranging from $80 all the way up to $200 for 750gm tomahawk.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Unfortunately that sounds pretty accurate. That's why I want to go live in Alaska. Too bad I would have to find a new job...

 

[huntertrw]

Only two hours? How about a night in the box?:

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I don't wish to be the bearer of bad news, but there are small to medium towns/cities where they have elevators. And if they break down, it might take 2 to 4 times longer to have them repaired as it is likely the elevator company is further away. So you'd be back to relying on the local fire department.

I also grew up in a rural area but from age 22 on, have mostly lived in or near metropolitan areas. It is my experiences the percentage of dumb asses in the city is about the same as in the country. The difference is they seem more concentrated in the city so you notice them more.

I enjoy the simplicity of country life when I go back home to visit relatives and friends. But I also become bored rather quickly. I can live anywhere I choose at this point in my life and I didn't give any consideration to purchasing a home back in the country where I grew up.

 

[PA Piper Mike]

You couldn't pay me to go into the city, let alone live in one. I avoid them like the plague. They are all crime-infested shit holes these days.

 

[Grangerous]

Fire Dept is always the first call. They know how to handle the hydrolics, how the emergency keys function and how to read the procedures. All elevators are different.

 

[OzPiper]

As an aside the high point to the trip was to see some of our beef in a steakhouse down here. Strip loin, eye fillet, tomahawks and slow cooked briskets on the menu with prices ranging from $80 all the way up to $200 for 750gm tomahawk.

Sorry to hear of your unpleasant experience in the elevator
Hopefully no one involved suffered from claustrophobia

We keep reading about how much the price of meat (beef, lamb) has come down at the farm gate in the past few months.
We're yet to see that translated into retail prices
Let alone restaurant prices

 

[georged]

Yes, but when you opened the ceiling hatch did a Lecter-ized body flop out?

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[bullet08]

Don't remember how tall was our apartment building back in Flushing, NY. We lived on 9th floor. Occasionally, the elevator will skip some floors. Like our floor. Like any normal buildings in NYC, we didn't have 13th floor. Yeah, sometimes, it's like nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[kcghost]

I've never been caught in a dysfunctional elevator, but I can Imagine Americans would get quickly pissed.

 

[sablebrush52]

I had that experience in DC, when I was shooting references for a miniature we were going to build for a miniseries.
The elevator got stuck between floors and the doors were pried apart so we could clamber out.
I’m just glad the damned thing didn’t move when I was halfway out.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Until you rung the fire department I thought you were going to say “3 hours? No problem” and then pull out your pipe.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

So everyone who lives in a big city is 'as dumb as a dog turd'. That sounds perfectly reasonable from someome who spent a couple of days in one, spending most of the time screaming at management because the morons allowed a lift to get stuck. You know a city of millions is full to the brim with ignorant dullards if you get stuck in an elevator in the city they live in, I mean, you'd think at least one of them would have seen it coming.

 

[woodsroad]

So everyone who lives in a big city is 'as dumb as a dog turd'. That sounds perfectly reasonable from someome who spent a couple of days in one, spending most of the time screaming at management because the morons allowed a lift to get stuck. You know a city of millions is full to the brim with ignorant dullards if you get stuck in an elevator in the city they live in, I mean, you'd think at least one of them would have seen it coming.

Any more, I tend to agree with @VDL_Piper. I lived in downtown Philadelphia for ten years in the 80's, but got out as the crack epidemic got worse and crime skyrocketed. Since then, the city has had it's ups and downs, but it's been on an overall downward trajectory of late. The COVID crap accelerated the decline exponentially and like a failing business, the people who stayed behind, rather than move on to greener pastures, tend to be idiots. A broken elevator is indicative of a lack of scheduled maintenance, part and parcel with the downward spiral sucking in most major cities.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

Any more, I tend to agree with @VDL_Piper. I lived in downtown Philadelphia for ten years in the 80's, but got out as the crack epidemic got worse and crime skyrocketed. Since then, the city has had it's ups and downs, but it's been on an overall downward trajectory of late. The COVID crap accelerated the decline exponentially and like a failing business, the people who stayed behind, rather than move on to greener pastures, tend to be idiots. A broken elevator is indicative of a lack of scheduled maintenance, part and parcel with the downward spiral sucking in most major cities.

London has its problems, no doubt about that. I regularly have to chase away drug users when they congregate on my road. But this is never much of a problem because the poor bastards are strung out and as thin as rakes. An eight year old could knock them over. Nevertheless, it normally makes for an unpleasant scene, no one needs that, me or them.

But not everyone can leave. Some of us are stuck here. I could leave, but if I did that, and other family members did the same, my mum would have to go in a home, as she is too sick to leave. And I won't allow that to happen. But for sure, when the time comes, I will probably relocate, either to Ireland, or somewhere on the English coast. Those places have their own problems too though. I would never label everyone living in those communities as 'dumb as turd' because of them though.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Unfortunately that sounds pretty accurate. That's why I want to go live in Alaska. Too bad I would have to find a new job...

You could intern with @warren!

 

[Egg Shen]

You couldn't pay me to go into the city, let alone live in one. I avoid them like the plague. They are all crime-infested shit holes these days.

Yep, they can go on and keep their “culture”.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

London has its problems, no doubt about that. I regularly have to chase away drug users when they congregate on my road. But this is never much of a problem because the poor bastards are strung out and as thin as rakes. An eight year old could knock them over. Nevertheless, it normally makes for an unpleasant scene, no one needs that, me or them.

But not everyone can leave. Some of us are stuck here. I could leave, but if I did that, and other family members did the same, my mum would have to go in a home, as she is too sick to leave. And I won't allow that to happen. But for sure, when the time comes, I will probably relocate, either to Ireland, or somewhere on the English coast. Those places have their own problems too though. I would never label everyone living in those communities as 'dumb as turd' because of them though.

Currently planning a visit - London is chock full of sites we want to experience and really looking forward to it! Unless we go up a tall building just for a view there won’t be any lifts we encounter so far as I know. More worried about clean public loos than rogue lifts, lol.

If some of @VDL_Piper’s beef is on the menu somewhere let me know and we’ll dig in!

Still, the thought of being stuck on the “Eye” scares me enough we won’t be getting on, lol.

In contrast, the elevator that served two floors of our church in our small town got stuck (nobody in it) - took a week for someone from the “big city” to come take a look and a couple months for them to get what they needed and come back and fix it. Different challenges.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Funny & potentially horrific at the same time. Again, the Fire Dept saves the day. Stuck in an elevator is no joke. Having the managers tell you you’ll be there for 3 hours is unacceptable. One would hope they told you this as a case of “undercommitting & overperforming”.
Also, city life is not for me either…way too many people. My brother lives in Brooklyn, NY & everytime I drive across the Verrazano Narrows I start getting more anxious than normal. It’s a thing. Nice gripe! ️

 

[woodsroad]

London has its problems, no doubt about that. I regularly have to chase away drug users when they congregate on my road. But this is never much of a problem because the poor bastards are strung out and as thin as rakes. An eight year old could knock them over. Nevertheless, it normally makes for an unpleasant scene, no one needs that, me or them.

But not everyone can leave. Some of us are stuck here. I could leave, but if I did that, and other family members did the same, my mum would have to go in a home, as she is too sick to leave. And I won't allow that to happen. But for sure, when the time comes, I will probably relocate, either to Ireland, or somewhere on the English coast. Those places have their own problems too though. I would never label everyone living in those communities as 'dumb as turd' because of them though.

I love cities, and everything they have to offer. Right now though, the cost in terms of crime, filth, homeless/drug addicts/mentally ill, insane public policy, make it all rather untenable for me. And I would really miss my five acres of wooded heaven. But when we get older, and taking care of the property becomes difficult, and if things improve in Philadelphia, I could see moving back. It would be one hell of a garage sale, that's for sure!