Another wonderful use for the magic fragment, Lest I Smite Thee!
“[sup]Stand to the right please,[/sup] Lest I Smite Thee!”
Never fails.
I’ve ALwasy had an irrational fear of my showlace getting caught and being partially sucked under.
Okay. Sorry.
I must type slower and preview.
…for those of us who have never experienced big-city type escalators before, the stand on the right/walk on the left thing isn’t all that obvious.
I went to Washington, DC this summer, and used the Metro to get around (Lovely thing, the Metro, and I don’t mean that sarcastically). Seeing as I come from a far northwestern suburb of Chicago (place that rhymes with “Smell Gin”), my experience was pretty much limited to the escalators in area malls, which generally weren’t all that crowded. One could see if someone was coming, even if one was standing two abreast on the stair. All one needed to do was move to the side, thus allowing the walker to pass. It didn’t really matter whether one moved to the right or the left.
Therefore, when I rode the Metro, I thought that it didn’t matter which side I stood/walked on, as long as I didn’t see anyone coming. My friend, however, informed me of this fallacy as soon as she saw me do this.
The point I’m trying to make? These people might legitimately not know where they’re supposed to stand on the escalator. This doesn’t really excuse the glares (Although, in some cases, I’m sure they think that you’re being a pushy asshole), but does allow them some leeway.
Tell 'em next time. As soon as I found out, I adhered to the rules. Just saying “excuse me” won’t get rid of their ignorance.
As for the people who stop at the bottom…that’s just dangerous, and there is no excuse.
Thank you, Lsura, to post the link to one of my favourite Pit OPs: Stand to the Right, Walk to the Left. In Washington, I’ve seen exactly one sign stating that, at the K St entrance to Farragut North (far right escalator).
I’d think about complaining to Metro about this, but I think they have bigger things to worry about, such as making my wait for a train longer each evening, or removing the newspaper recycling bins so people either leave their Posts in the trash or on the train when they depart. :rolleyes:
I always stand on escalators. Always did. Never knew that it made you the Scum of the Earth if you did that. Nobody told me. 
But then I live out in the sticks, and escalators are never crowded where I am. Also I never go on them in rush hour and so it doesn’t matter.
Also I am a bit scared of escalators, I always worry that if I move too much on them I will fall down and break my neck or something. I’m not kidding, I have a bit of a phobia about them! I feel safe on them when I am standing still so I will continue to do so. And if you don’t like it you will have to put up with it I am afraid!
It’s okay Lass, nobody minds if you stand on the escalator. Just make sure to stand on the right side and leave room for people to pass you on the left, and move away from the escalator promptly once you step off it.
What we’re wondering about here (though I admit the rant has kind of gone all over the place) is why some of the people who prefer to walk up an escalator choose to stop walking just before they get to the top. Huh? Don’t give up now! You’re so close! You can make it, honest you can!!
Yer all ranting about the wrong guy–not somebody who stands on the left on an escalator. The OP clearly stated that the offender got to the top of the escalator and just stood there like a deer in headlights rather than get out of the way of the entire escalator full of people, walkers and standers alike. In fact, he was probably blocking the standers who were doing their duty, and the walkers were able to get past him because he wasn’t in their way.
Some people stop learning things in the second grade.
Um, okaaaay. But what if there are no stairs, such as in most DC Metro stations, and the elevator is either out of service or the exit is not in a convienent location?
Personally, I cannot belive the people who walk up the escalators at the Rosslyn station. These things appear to be set at a 60° angle and 300’ long! Note I said “appear”; I have no idea what the exact dimensions are. I do remember the first time I rode one, I was in town with my parents at Key Bridge Marriot for ten days in June of '79. I dreaded the escalators at Rosslyn; at the time the Rosslyn Metro Center building was still under construction and I was unable to see the bottom of the escalator because of the sun’s glare.
You have to be careful; the top is where it gets all tricky with the diminishing half-steps.
The first, cardinal rule of the DC Metro escalator is stay out of Gobear’s way!
No Lollygagging! That means you, Mr. Tourist! I know it’s your first time in the big city, and you need to get your bearings, but the bottom of the escalator ain’t the place to do it.
As Jeff Olsen noted, the DC Metro doesn’t have stairs, and walking on the left is a local custom. I have no problem walking up the escalator, excusing myself as I go. On late weekend evenings, when there isn’t a soul about,
I have been known to run up the Dupont and Adams Morgan escalators. But I only do it when there is nobody else on them.
*Originally posted by Broomstick *
Maybe he was chewing gum.
And Billy, please hand me a kleenex.
They need to do what they do on the road.
Slow moving vehicles should stick to the inside lane with faster ones using the outside lane.
Of course, this would mean that in the US the walkers are on the left and the standers are on the right - however in Australia, UK etc it would be the other way around.
I’ve never caused a jam-up at the top of the escalator in fact, I try to skip away as quickly as possible - thankful to be off the damned nightmare machine.
I confess that friends have yanked me on to one more times than I care to count. I tend to baulk at the beginning. I’m afraid to make a mistep that may cause me to fall down and be ground into mince meat. Those moving steps are kind of mezmerizing in a scary way. I have to study them and estimate the exact and correct foot placement. I’ve been known to make several false starts. No one has actually pushed me from behind to get going but several men have offered their arms to get me safely on.
I’m pretty sure this fear started when I was a little girl visiting in London. That place had some monster escalators - steep, wooden ones that seemed to descend forever and ever into the bowels of subway Hell.
I would freak if someone stopped in front of me at the top! Jeeze, I could fall down and get dismembered right there. I may take to carrying a prodding stick with me when I go out. Hmmm, not a bad idea. I could also use it as a pointer to direct people’s visual attention to the topic at hand or tap people when I want to emphasis some part of my conversation.
Until I read this thread, I always thought riding the escalator meant you didn’t have to walk. I never knew I was to be standing on the right to allow walkers to pass on the left.
I guess I’m used to dealing with department store and mall escalators as I have never rode or used any type of mass transit other than maybe the city bus.
Subways, Metro, The El,commuting, traffic circles? Those are just words I’ve read in books and magazines. So am I missing anything.
dietrologia, mate! Well said. Can I join your group please?
Redboss
Angel of the Lord: The subway stations in Toronto have signs plastered on the escalators saying Stand on the Right, Walk on the Left. Doesn’t make a damn bit of difference, and today I was pushed into the idiot who stopped at the bottom, which was why I read this thread. I wonder if it’s the same idiot? Maybe there’s just the one and he travels the world.
I bet you guys, though, in the midst of escalator hell, were never serenaded by a busker in a station playing Feelings on an accordion. Oh, those speeding trains. So near, yet so far.
But escalators really can be dangerous.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5111.html
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission . . . estimates that there were 7,300 hospital emergency room-treated injuries from escalators in 1994. Seventy-five percent of these injuries were due to falls, another 20 percent occurred when hands, feet or shoes were trapped in escalators.