Lifts become funny places after dark. They take on a different “feel” once most people are home, snuggled in their apartments for the evening. There are those that head downstairs for an evening walk but by 10pm, things get pretty quiet. The cleaner has gone home too.
This might explain the prevalence of rubbish, cigarette ash, and mud inside the elevators during the late hours. We arrived home late the other night and we preoccupied with getting the kids to bed. Eagled-eyed Miss K spotted a liquid substance in the corner of Lift C.
“Someone has spilt their orange juice in the corner of the lift!” She said excitedly.
We looked closer. It didn’t seem like the 100% pure orange juice brands that are so popular in the market place. It didn’t smell like orange juice either, more like strong, salty vegetable soup. Too much information? I’ll go on.
“Perhaps it’s apple juice, Daddy?”
Um, maybe, but apple juice doesn’t smell like vegetable soup either.
“Perhaps a pet dog went pee pee here?” She theorised.
“Yes” I replied “but a dog doesn’t normally get its business halfway up the elevator wall.“
The topic arbitrarily turned to something else as it often does with eight year olds – My Little Pony, or an incident in class that day. But my interest was piqued. I’d once overheard primary school boys bragging about piddling in a lift but thought it that – braggadocio. Lifts stop pretty quickly and it would make an embarrassing situation if a male was caught by others midstream. How could one possibly explain the situation?
“Um, sorry…. just watering the pot plants” (?)
As I mentioned above, it was after 10pm and someone might have felt a little emboldened. Perhaps they’d had a bit of liquid courage and were caught short. Maybe it was a dare? Maybe it wasn’t anything other than spilt soup splashed 1.5 metres up a wall… but I was reminded of this incident (below) that occurred in Chongqing earlier in the year.
Apparently he managed to short circuit the electrics and stop the lift. He was left to stew in his own juices (in pitch black darkness too) for quite some time before technicians rescued him!
Thanks for your comments and feedback. It is nice to see viewers from different parts of the globe. Your viewership is much appreciated.
Cheers, KJ
Life In Lifts 