# Escalator Etiquette **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588 "2006-10-23T16:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/221 "2006-10-24T19:09:30Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] People are getting all tied up in metaphors and parallels. Fact is, taking this whole thing away from escalators: It’s rude to respond snottily to a polite and reasonable request. The request was made politely (if possibly in a hurried way). Why be a jerk just because YOU think the world ought to go at the same speed as you? The person making the request wasn’t a jerk. They just made a polite request. If it’s that much of a pain for you to move, say so politely. “I’m afraid I haven’t much room here as it is, and I’d rather not move over. Sorry.” Even so, I’d think you were a bit of a jerk for blatantly refusing a simple request to make room for your fellow human being in a public area, but at least you were as polite about it as possible. [/QUOTE] Excellent summary. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/222 "2006-10-24T19:12:10Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Is this supposed to be some sort of analogy? That someone standing in the middle of one escalator is actually standing on both the up and down escalators? And slowing down the machinery of one, while simultaneously causing head-on collisions in the other? Dude, get off the road. Your analogy is out of gas and blocking my way. [/QUOTE] Reread the part when I said “split the two lanes going in my direction” and proceed to desnark mode. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/223 "2006-10-24T19:13:13Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Ah. My bad. Sorry. Still, to make it a valid analogy, the person on the escalator would have to be backing up. To stand on the escalator is to go at precisely the speed limit. [/QUOTE] Ah. My bad for not reading the "my bad. I will proceed to desnark mode now… ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/224 "2006-10-24T19:15:23Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] In non-commute situations, I simply prefer to keep moving. [/QUOTE] “Everyone get out of my way! If my speed drops below five miles an hour I’m going to explode!” He was the man that couldn’t slow down. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/225 "2006-10-24T19:20:25Z")
You say that like it’s a bad thing! Personally, I’d like to find him and follow him around all day so that I can ride his wake. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/226 "2006-10-24T19:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=davenportavenger] “Everyone get out of my way! If my speed drops below five miles an hour I’m going to explode!” He was the man that couldn’t slow down. [/QUOTE] Heh. During my USAF tenure, nothing I hated more than simply standing still. Maybe it’s the amount of caffeine I down during the day, but I’m a fidgeter and a mover. Don’t know if I’ll quite explode, but it might feel like it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/227 "2006-10-24T19:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] You say that like it’s a bad thing! Personally, I’d like to find him and follow him around all day so that I can ride his wake. [/QUOTE] Is that what the kids are calling it these days? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/228 "2006-10-24T19:36:30Z")
Dirty! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/229 "2006-10-24T19:36:35Z")
But, can anyone who actually believes that it’s just fine to stand in the middle of the escalator tell me why it isn’t just fine to split the lanes as per my analogy above? It’s fine to drive at exactly the speed limit, just like it’s fine to stand on the escalator. In both cases you are following the letter of the law. It’s fine to travel a little above the speed limit, frankly, as that’s often the speed that the flow of traffic takes, just as it’s fine to use the escalator as a staircase and walk. And, even if it isn’t fine to drive above the speed limit, that makes my point even better. So, why would you think that it’s acceptable to stand in the middle of the escalator when it’s obviously not fine to drive down the middle of two lanes? In both cases, of course, assuming that moving fully into the right lane is a viable option. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/230 "2006-10-24T19:38:42Z")
this thread reminds me of this thread from awhile back [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=388150&highlight=elevator](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=388150&highlight=elevator) in which Dinsdale is taken to task by some jerk for not wanting to hold the elevator. Not an exact analogy–but close enough. In my opinion holding people up for no reason makes you a jerk if you can accommodate them and they ask nicely. And as an Architect I can tell you we put elevators and escalators and stairs in buildings to move people along–quickly. Not for your convenience or anything nice like that–I want to get you from point A to point B efficiently whether in a panic situation or in normal business day mode. Buildings have traffic patterns and part of my job is get people in and out them efficiently. In a non panic situation escalators move people quickly and efficiently with some standing and some moving–they are intended for both modes of travel. Rare is the escalator that can only accommodate a single width. Mainly I have seen these ‘within’ departments stores going from floor to floor. The main public escalators are usually double width to accommodate moving large masses of people quickly. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/231 "2006-10-24T19:47:28Z")
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker] But, can anyone who actually believes that it’s just fine to stand in the middle of the escalator tell me why it isn’t just fine to split the lanes as per my analogy above? [/QUOTE] My own position is not that it’s not fine to split the escalator, but that in some circumstances it doesn’t make sense. Also, if it’s not split, it won’t kill you to move at the same speed as everyone else, despite your current caffeine level. And thirdly, while you have a right to request that a person move over, you don’t have a right to demand it. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/232 "2006-10-24T19:54:39Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Heh. During my USAF tenure, nothing I hated more than simply standing still. Maybe it’s the amount of caffeine I down during the day, but I’m a fidgeter and a mover. Don’t know if I’ll quite explode, but it might feel like it. [/QUOTE] I’m much the same way, which is why I almost always take the stairs. I can see both sides of this. On the one hand, people should move to the side when they’re asked as long as it isn’t a big deal (i.e. disability, too many bags, etc). That’s just common courtesy. On the other hand, how long does riding on an escalator take? Thirty seconds? You can’t wait it out? Your time isn’t that precious. Besides escalators in malls aren’t very comfortable to walk on; the stairs are shorter than regulation size stairs and you get that vertigo (at least I do) when you suddenly hit solid ground. I don’t think it’s a realistic safety hazard or anything but you never know. So for those of us who prefer to walk, yeah, I think it’s best to take the stairs. Losing that extra five seconds that you get from walking down accelerated stairs isn’t going to kill you. I DO walk down the escalator if I am trying to catch a train but I consider that a completely different situation from mall escalators. There is a special place in hell for people who stand still on people movers, though. They’re slower than sauntering! And some are really, really long; I’d have no problem “shoving” someone out of the way on one of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/233 "2006-10-24T19:58:30Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] My own position is not that it’s not fine to split the escalator, but that in some circumstances it doesn’t make sense. Also, if it’s not split, it won’t kill you to move at the same speed as everyone else, despite your current caffeine level. And thirdly, while you have a right to request that a person move over, you don’t have a right to demand it. [/QUOTE] All of that holds true for the car analogy too, no? It won’t kill you to go the speed limit. You have no more right to demand that he drive in one lane, than you do to demand that escalator guy stand to the right. Yet there is no doubt that the lane splitter is an ass. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/234 "2006-10-24T20:12:42Z")
Also, for the record, I have never heard the “move to the right” thing in regards to elevators before. Maybe because I don’t ride them all too often. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/235 "2006-10-24T20:13:06Z")
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker] All of that holds true for the car analogy too, no? It won’t kill you to go the speed limit. You have no more right to demand that he drive in one lane, than you do to demand that escalator guy stand to the right. Yet there is no doubt that the lane splitter is an ass. [/QUOTE] Correct on all counts. And can we agree that the tailgater who flashes his lights is an ass as well? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/236 "2006-10-24T20:16:29Z")
[QUOTE=davenportavenger] I DO walk down the escalator if I am trying to catch a train but I consider that a completely different situation from mall escalators. There is a special place in hell for people who stand still on people movers, though. They’re slower than sauntering! And some are really, really long; I’d have no problem “shoving” someone out of the way on one of those things. [/QUOTE] My mall experience is limited. I try to visit them only when necessary, and even then off-peak hours. As for people-movers, my favorites are the ones who will stand right (like the directions say), but block the left with their luggage (be it one bag or ten). There’s a special sub-layer in hell for them. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/237 "2006-10-24T20:18:02Z")
Veinna, Austria, has a corps of umbrella wielding, matching coat and hat wearing, middle aged ladies charged with insuring that no person occupies more than one seat on any public conveyance (regardless they are the only one on the bus) or stands on the left side of the escalator. The customary way of informing left-standers of the heinous disregard for established etiquette is the pressing of the buisness end of the umbrella into the postierior of the transgressor, while uttering a stern scolding. Note that the hat and umbrella ladies seldom actually climb on the left side…prefering to stand on the right, the better to pounce on the unwary left stander. Since commuters are making connections to public transport, the few seconds saved can easilly reap the reward of shortening the trip by at least 5 minutes if only U-Bahns are considered, but by perhaps a half hour if busses or trams are used. Anyone who thinks I’m making this up need only spend a week in Vienna. Actually, I think Erica Joung may have made similar observations in “Fear of Flying” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/238 "2006-10-24T20:20:41Z")
[QUOTE=davenportavenger] Also, for the record, I have never heard the “move to the right” thing in regards to elevators before. Maybe because I don’t ride them all too often. [/QUOTE] You mean escalators? I’ve heard it on message boards, and I’ve seen it done, but I don’t recall ever seeing a sign. I have, however, seen signs depicting a large stick figure holding the hand of a small stick figure. To me this implies that stick figures of differing sizes, at least, should occupy both lanes. I’ve also never seen a dotted yellow line down the middle of the steps. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/239 "2006-10-24T20:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Correct on all counts. And can we agree that the tailgater who flashes his lights is an ass as well? [/QUOTE] I’m with you on that one too. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/240 "2006-10-24T20:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Veinna, Austria, has a corps of umbrella wielding, matching coat and hat wearing, middle aged ladies charged with insuring that no person occupies more than one seat on any public conveyance (regardless they are the only one on the bus) or stands on the left side of the escalator. [/QUOTE] how much does that job pay? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588.md?page=13)