Elevator Madness

I am going to attempt to describe the elevator scene at 8.25am in my office building. It may seem that I am obsessed with the elevators because this is my second posting but the reason I share this experience is because it defies my personal logic . Each time I take the elevator at 8.25am and observe my own behavior, I'm forced to laugh at myself. Ok, here goes...

Since most offices in the building seem to start work right at 8.30am, at 8.25 there can be up to 30 people waiting for an elevator at the ground floor, where I enter the building. There are at least two basement levels and 15 above ground levels plus a stairwell. My preference would be to take the stairs because this is usually the healthy option. However this is perhaps the most unhealthy thing I could do in India because everyone smokes in the stairwell and there is absolutely no ventilation. So, no stairs. Also, as these 30 people are waiting, they start to guess which elevator will open next and they begin to crowd around the next logical elevator. But usually when that elevator's doors open, it's already full and we have to wait for the next one.

There is a trick to avoid this annoying situation. Especially during busy times, I first ride the elevator down when I want to go up and ride up when I want to go down. This kind of inverse logic applies to quite a few situations in India (most things related to a queue, driving and shopping) and understanding this actually helps me get things done.

I'm starting to figure this place out...