# An open letter of apology to those who need to get to the top of the escalator first. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 11, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186 "2003-06-11T20:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/61 "2003-06-13T11:22:47Z")
Man, you people sure have some petty gripes. It’s the people trying to run _down_ the _up_ escalator, that I save my enmity for. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/62 "2003-06-13T12:06:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Errr, no, **dropzone** … Doesn’t work that way. \*\* [pouting] When OTHER people use dirty words in really big font sizes you move THEIR threads to the Pit. What makes THEM so special? Do I have to insult **manhattan** or something? [/pouting] ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/63 "2003-06-13T12:15:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \* > \*\*Man, you people sure have some petty gripes. It’s the people trying to run _down_ the _up_ escalator, that I save my enmity for. \*\* **That** would be funny to see. I want to see this. Unlike going up the down escalator, a false move could send them tumbling. Ok, ok. I don’t _really_ want them to go tumbling. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by JulKatBo_ > Then there’s one of my friends. He refuses to walk on escalators because he claims that he thinks to do so is disrespectful to the people who designed them. Not sure I grasp this one, so I guess I’ve been whooshed. > [@](#): > > _JohnBckWLD_ > Let’s face it, escalators are probably one of the most needless, but still widely used, inventions in the history of mankind. I wonder how man injuries occur on escalators annually, or worse yet, how many kids have digits or worse ripped off their bodies by them. Needless, eh? You want to walk up five stories twice a day, you go right ahead. But needless? I think not. I’ve never seen an injury on an escalator. I’ve never seen any kids have digits ripped off their bodies, and I’m curious as to how this could possibly happen. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/64 "2003-06-13T20:42:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > I’ve never seen an injury on an escalator. I’ve never seen any kids have digits ripped off their bodies, and I’m curious as to how this could possibly happen. Nor have I. I’ve never seen a great white shark attack before either, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Here’s the most recent one I could find, from 4 months ago[Girl Loses Fingers in Escalator Accident](http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=25134&nid=104) > [@](#): > > ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) \_ A 5-year-old girl whose left hand got caught in a department store escalator lost three fingers because of the accident, her family said. > > Kerriana Johnson’s shoe became caught in the escalator at Dillard’s Department Store in a mall Friday. When the girl reached down to free herself, her hand became entangled, said James Jewell, the fiance of the girl’s mother, Lori Medvitz… ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/65 "2003-06-13T20:47:58Z")
Well, don’t know about that store’s escalators, but the public transportation ones here have a lot of signs regarding keeping shoelaces tied. Either there were no such signs there, or the five-year-old couldn’t or didn’t read them, or whoever she was with neglected to. (Funny how that took place in Fla., but the page you linked to is that of a DC-area radio station. Ironic!) At any rate, things are made as safe as possible for adults and kids who are old enough to know better; for the littler ones, it’s emcumbant upon the parent or guardian to make sure they’re safe. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186/66 "2003-06-13T20:50:54Z")
But do you have any evidence that escalators are _less safe_ than stairs or elevators or fire poles or catapults or whatever it is you’re suggesting people use to move vertically? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-those-who-need-to-get-to-the-top-of-the-escalator-first/181186.md?page=3)