Recurring Elevator Nightmare

I’ve been having this recurring dream (or should I say nightmare?) about getting on elevators which take me and others to floors that were not selected by any of the people. And sometimes you can feel the elevators taking you in horizontal as well as vertical directions. I can recall some dreams where the elevators were at a hotel where I am attending a conference. And because I am at a conference, not only are the elevators huge, holding up to 20 people at at time, but they travel great distances, mostly vertically. And the greater the distance, the more nauseating it would be for me. I would never “lose my stomach,” but the feeling is like a continuing “build.” We would never come to a crash landing, but everyone is inside somewhat grimacing, clenching their fists as they hold their fists out in front of their bodies, with their knees slightly bent. These elevators were also quite ornate, with warm mahogoney wood intricately carved on the exterior of the elevators and the interiors as well.

The latest variation on this dream/nightmare that I have been having as of late is restricted to my place of employment, which is only three stories tall. Except what is new in addition to those conditions mentioned above is that the elevators go up to a non-existent fourth floor and sometimes the elevator car turns upside down. We don’t then fall to the ceiling, which is now the “acting floor” but rather stay afixed to the floor but ride upside down. What is nice is that since the building is not as tall as those hotels where conventions have taken place, the “free-fall” feeling is not as nauseating. And because this is now happening at my place of employment, I feel that there’s this sense of duty to warn other visitors who board the elevators that the elevator may go “haywire.” The people just turn and give me the look like I am some crazy lunatic. But then they quickly realize I wasn’t joking.

I was surfing the Internet just to add a photo or two of an elevator, but remembered these quite ornate elevator doors that I took photos of at the Hardrock Hotel in Chicago when I went to see Jersey Boys last month. Which I still recommend to see if you have an opportunity. You may wonder what the opposing “C’s” on the bronze elevator doors represent. The hotel is actually a refurbished office building and this used to be the “Carbide and Carbon Building.” See the outside entrance I captured on the left.

While surfing the Internet, I came across these quick facts about elevators:

• The “Door Close” button is mostly there to give passengers the illusion of control. The button is only enabled in emergency situations with a key held by an authority.
• The only known occurrence of an elevator car free falling due to a snapped cable (barring fire or structural collapse), was in 1945 when a B25 Bomber crashed into the Empire State Building and severed the cables of two elevators. The elevator car on the 75th floor had a woman on it, but she survived due to the 1000 feet of coiled cable that had fallen, which lessened the impact.
• Elevators are twenty times safer than escalators. There are twenty times more elevators than escalators, but only 1/3 more accidents.
• Elevators are also safer than cars. An average of 26 people die in elevators each year in the U.S. There are 26 car deaths every five hours.
• Most people who die in elevators are elevator technicians.
• The Otis Elevator Company carries the equivalent of the world’s population in their elevators every five days.
• The New York Marriott was the first to introduce a smart elevator system that assigned passengers to elevators depending on what floor they were heading to.
• Elevator hatches are generally bolted shut for safety reasons. In times of elevator crisis, the safest place is inside the elevator.
• The myth about jumping just before impact in a falling elevator is just that – myth. You can’t jump fast enough to counteract the speed of falling. And you wouldn’t know when to jump.
• According to the laws of physics, elevators can’t be any taller than 1,700 feet. Hoist ropes become too heavy after that, snapping at 3200 feet.