Saturday Seething (part 46 of a 444 part series)

Elevators are not toys!!!!
Why do some mothers think it is okay for their children to play on elevators? It is not a babysitter while you shop; It is not an amusement park ride. The elevator is a useful tool for helping the disabled get to the second level and for deliveries of products.
The elevator in our store is just your basic elevator, only has two floors to choose from, but is rather temperamental. It frequently brakes or gets stuck between the two floors but only because little snot faced kids get in there, push both floor buttons and then they just can't stop themselves from bushing the red, ominous, stop button and yet they fail to realize is that button does indeed stop the elevator. We've had kids stuck in there for hours all because their mother let them run wild.
Here is The saddest story of a kid getting stuck in the elevator: an 8 or 9 year old boy kept running up the stairs and taking the elevator down. He did this about 15 times in 20 minutes. After the first 3 times (and I realized what he was doing) I stopped him and said that elevator is not a toy and suggested he find his mom. He nodded his head as if he understood but 2 minutes later he was back. So I repeated my little lecture in my nicest voice. He did it again. By now I was getting a little mad at this brat. Well after the 15th "ride" the elevator got stuck. He of course starts freaking out and we have to page his mother over the store intercom. She starts freaking out and we call the electrician/elevator repair people. After the mother calms down a bit, we find out her son has autism (oh great, I called him a brat earlier so I feel super guilty). It's about 2 hours before we get him out. He cried hysterically the entire 2 hours. I am still haunted by his screams. Once he was out, he promised his mother he would never play in an elevator again. Ya, that promise lasted only a few weeks because he came right back and played on the "ride" again the next time they were in the store. Seriously- this time I blamed his mother for letting him run wild. He only rode the elevator 3 times and then I guess his mother grabbed him or they left the store.
That is one of countless stories. We had a group of 3 kids get stuck this week but they were only stuck for 5 minutes. The didn't realize you had to push a floor button for the doors to open.
I am so grateful for my nieces and nephews who love to ride it but know how to properly use the elevator.


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