# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/21 "2006-10-23T17:48:56Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] The left lane is for _passing_, people. [/QUOTE] I don’t see how the concept of _lanes_ properly applies to escalators. Unless there’s something at the end of the escalator – like a train – that’s about to leave, it seems to me that the people who are too impatient to stand until the escalator reaches the end, as has been suggested, _really_ need to relax. On the other hand, when the request is polite, I see no reason not to make room for someone to pass. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/22 "2006-10-23T17:51:46Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] I like to fart on escalators so the people behind me get carried into the cloud. [/QUOTE] Hmm. I wonder if one could exploit a downdraft from an HVAC port to direct the fart approx. along the axis of motion? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/23 "2006-10-23T17:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I don’t see how the concept of _lanes_ properly applies to escalators. Unless there’s something at the end of the escalator – like a train – that’s about to leave, it seems to me that the people who are too impatient to stand until the escalator reaches the end, as has been suggested, _really_ need to relax. [/QUOTE] And it seems to me that the people who are too lazy to continue moving their feet as they would do on a stationary staircase, really need some exercise. Or if they don’t want to, at least give us “movers” a little room, when possible. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/24 "2006-10-23T18:01:26Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] Mature people can wait a few seconds to get down an escalator. Was the president waiting for you? What people are supposed to do on escalators is stand still; it does the moving. [/QUOTE] Precisely. If you want to walk down the stairs, then take the actual stairs, not the moving ones, I don’t give a flying fuck how long they were. You have no “right” to force me to one side while I’m trying to balance on moving stairs that we’ll be at the top or bottom of in a matter of seconds anyway. Get over your fucking self. I’d invite your arrogant, self-centered, sorry ass outside, too, if you got beligerent with me like you did that guy. The ONLY exception are the flat “people movers” in airports, where it’s not only known etiquette to stand to the right to allow walkers to pass, but is often actually a posted instruction. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/25 "2006-10-23T18:03:03Z")
Movers can take the stairs then. What, no elevator either? Try googling and reading about the safety rules on escalators. Rush rush rush. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/26 "2006-10-23T18:05:10Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] I like to fart on escalators so the people behind me get carried into the cloud. [/QUOTE] Remember reading here about **Billy Rubin** (I think) doing that? I believe he was Christmas shopping or something, got on an escalator or moving sidewalk, felt a large gas pain, hadn’t heard anyone walk up behind him so he leaned over and “pushed”. Unfortunately though, some handicapped guy in a wheelchair had silently rolled up behind him and caught it full in the face. First Billy knew of it was when the guy yells out _“JESUS CHRIST! What in the hell did you do that for?”_ A tad embarrasing, I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/27 "2006-10-23T18:06:06Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I don’t see how the concept of _lanes_ properly applies to escalators. [/QUOTE] I take it you’ve never been to London? ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/28 "2006-10-23T18:12:01Z")
[http://www.eesf.org/safetrider/escmyth.htm](http://www.eesf.org/safetrider/escmyth.htm) “The escalator steps are not the proper height for stairs and should not be used as such.” ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/29 "2006-10-23T18:12:47Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] I don’t see how the concept of _lanes_ properly applies to escalators. Unless there’s something at the end of the escalator – like a train – that’s about to leave, it seems to me that the people who are too impatient to stand until the escalator reaches the end, as has been suggested, _really_ need to relax. On the other hand, when the request is polite, I see no reason not to make room for someone to pass. [/QUOTE] If the escalator is wide enough for two people (and not all are, in which case us passers need to suck it up), then there are two lanes. It’s not okay to take up both lanes, just like it’s not okay to take up both lanes on the road, or it’s not okay to walk down the left side of a stairway. It impedes traffic. I use the escalator every day at the train station, and let me tell you, every day I find myself yelling at the people blocking the escalator “_Hello, people… \*\*this \*\* is a train station, and \*\*that \*\* is a train! Are you here for some \*\*other \*\* reason!!!_” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/30 "2006-10-23T18:13:55Z")
Unbefuckinglybelievable. A person makes a polite request and is first ignored, then given an utterly rude response, and so many of you are siding with the rude one? We’re talking about a guy who actually uses the phrase “You wanna take it outside” when he wasn’t even appearing in a bad movie. How the fuck is it even possible to picture someone saying that, and not labeling them a complete troglodyte? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/31 "2006-10-23T18:15:19Z")
[QUOTE=Loopydude] You’re probably right, but does relaxation require taking shit from people? Seems it does. [/QUOTE] Why does that guy have to take your shit? If you’re in such a hurry that you can’t wait 10 seconds for the escalator to reach the top (or bottom, whatever the case may be), then you should be running your errand another time when you aren’t in such a rush. If someone came up behind me on a escalator and said, “What, you call moving one foot in front of the other being in a hurry, _buddy_? Could you just move to one side, _buddy_?”, I’d’ve told you to go get fucked. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/32 "2006-10-23T18:20:00Z")
Anybody read the link I provided? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/33 "2006-10-23T18:21:32Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] [http://www.eesf.org/safetrider/escmyth.htm](http://www.eesf.org/safetrider/escmyth.htm) “The escalator steps are not the proper height for stairs and should not be used as such.” [/QUOTE] Now how about you post the entire relevent portion, instead of cherry-picking? > [@](#): > > MYTH: If an escalator is standing still, it is just a set of stairs. > TRUTH: Not at all! Escalator steps are not the correct height for normal walking and should not be used in that manner. The risk of tripping and falling is increased. The bit you quoted referred to _non-working_ escalators. Of course, the entire bit is pretty much bullshit – to say there is one standard step height for every escalator is like saying there is one standard step height for every staircase. It simply ain’t so. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/34 "2006-10-23T18:22:17Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] Anybody read the link I provided? [/QUOTE] Yes. It was silly, and irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/35 "2006-10-23T18:24:38Z")
As is your opinion that everyone should get out of your way no matter what. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/36 "2006-10-23T18:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] Anybody read the link I provided? [/QUOTE] The way I read your link, it is recommending that stopped escalators not be used as stairs. It doesn’t say anything about _moving_ escalators. That site has another page, on [safety](http://www.eesf.org/safetrider/ESCRULE.HTM), that has this: > [@](#): > > **On moving walks, stationary passengers should stay to the right and let walking passengers pass on the left.** > > Moving walks are designed to move passengers who are stationary as well as those who want to walk. Passengers standing on the > right allow walkers to pass on the left. But note, that this says on _moving walks_, which I take it are those moving walkways like at the airport, not escalators. I didn’t find anything on the site specifically addressing the issue of walking on a moving escalator. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/37 "2006-10-23T18:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] Anybody read the link I provided? [/QUOTE] Yeah, I thought it was a joke after it said that an escalator should be given the same attention as a moving bus. I knew it was a joke after one of the myths they addressed was that children think escalators fall into the basement and need to be restacked every morning. Hal, what you’re missing is that at the SDMB, suggesting that someone put one foot in front of another when there’s not a fire in the room is an insult to their hypothyroidism. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/38 "2006-10-23T18:28:03Z")
Most malls with escalators also have stairways. If I’m in a hurry, I use the stairs instead…there are a lot fewer people on them, and I can usually go as fast as I want. This might be a good solution for you in the future. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/39 "2006-10-23T18:28:08Z")
I always move to the side when more important people come near me as they have more of a right to get where they are rushing to more than I. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588/40 "2006-10-23T18:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] As is your opinion that everyone should get out of your way no matter what. 😛 [/QUOTE] Actually, \*not \* no matter what. My opinion is that they should stand to the right, if the escalator is wide enough to accommodate two lanes. I truly don’t understand what is unreasonable about expecting people to simply not impede my progress through the world. Life is movement. If you’re not moving, you’re dead. If you’re dead, then kindly lay down so that the rest of us can step over you. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-etiquette/377588.md?page=3)