# Why is my elevator dispensing quarters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198 "2012-10-19T04:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/41 "2012-10-21T00:50:47Z")
And they’re back again tonight!! There is a new laundry room in the lobby, maybe it’s some kind of dimensional wormhole where you put the coins in the machine and they come out on in the elevator! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/42 "2012-10-21T02:07:38Z")
Once you sober up, I think you’ll be able to exit the telephone booth and locate the proper elevator. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/43 "2012-10-21T02:19:02Z")
I think the guy who is so pissed that he has to…piss…drops his pocket change when he drops his pants. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/44 "2012-10-21T02:20:47Z")
Perhaps a power surge is causing the elevator to ascend much too rapidly. When it slams to a stop at the top floor, people fly up to the ceiling. When their heads bonk into the ceiling, the change flies out of their pockets, rolls around, and falls through the grate. Coins smaller than a quarter slip through easily, but the quarters get stuck. Points to research: 1. Are there a lot of dents in the ceiling of the elevator? 2. Can you get into the basement to search the bottom of the elevator shaft? There may be a big ol’ pile of money sitting there. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/45 "2012-10-21T03:19:14Z")
I’d be looking for a camera somewhere in that elevator. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/46 "2012-10-21T03:34:51Z")
bank robbers robbed a bank and hid a bag of quarters on top of the elevator. through time the bag has broken and the coins have found their way through the sides of the car. there is likely a bag of folding money still on top of the car. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/47 "2012-10-21T04:02:19Z")
Examine the years on the quarters, if they seem to stop at a particular year, you might be able to figure out around when the robbery happened. ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/48 "2012-10-21T04:03:07Z")
Someone is playing with you. I used to put a penny on my bosses filing cabinet once a week when she wasn’t looking. Drove her nuts for months. I stopped and it drove her nuts again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/49 "2012-10-21T04:06:00Z")
Can you snap a picture of the area with quarters? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/50 "2012-10-21T04:10:50Z")
If it continues for another few weeks you’ll have enough money to hire an employee to stand in the elevator all day and find out where they come from. Or buy a mini spy cam and hide it somewhere nearby. But I still say don’t question free quarters. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/51 "2012-10-21T04:12:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > This. > > A petty ante robber, fleeing the gendarmes, hid in the elevator shaft and was killed. > Everytime the car passes his body, some of the loot falls into the car and rolls to the grate. _Penny_ ante. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/52 "2012-10-21T04:15:41Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > And they’re back again tonight!! > There is a new laundry room in the lobby, maybe it’s some kind of dimensional wormhole where you put the coins in the machine and they come out on in the elevator! Maybe some resident is caching quarters in the elevator in case they leave their apartment without their change and is hoping nobody notices it. By taking their quarters, you’re forcing them to return to their apartment for more laundry money. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/53 "2012-10-21T04:46:03Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Can you snap a picture of the area with quarters? Post #15. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/54 "2012-10-21T04:46:25Z")
What a coincidence. I just noticed this right after reading [this thread](http://www.giraffeboards.com/showthread.php?t=28184): > [@](#): > > I just found out that my cousin, who is legally ‘Maturity-Delayed’, and my elderly uncle have been tormenting a neighbor. Should I confront them? And a couple of posts later: > [@](#): > > They’re taking grandma’s jelly jar of emergency quarters and shoving them into slots in the elevator. I’m not even going to tell you what they’re planning on doing – let’s just say that the guy that takes them is in for a world of pain. ETA: > [@](#): > > Oh, great. Now they’re following him to work and waiting in the hallway outside his offices. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/55 "2012-10-21T07:13:03Z")
> [@Dano83860](#): > > Someone is playing with you. I used to put a penny on my bosses filing cabinet once a week when she wasn’t looking. Drove her nuts for months. I stopped and it drove her nuts again. 😃 That’s both sneaky and thrifty. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/56 "2012-10-21T12:32:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I just hope these aren’t some kind of offering to a dark force and that you’re not going to unleash that force by taking away the only thing that appeases it - spare change. He’s in a Tim Powers novel then, although in that case it’s more likely the quarters are to stop the thing noticing him in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/57 "2012-10-22T00:26:29Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Examine the years on the quarters, if they seem to stop at a particular year, you might be able to figure out around when the robbery happened. This made me laugh way too much. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/58 "2012-10-22T02:19:57Z")
> [@wellanuff](#): > > This made me laugh way too much. You should be able to nose him as you go up the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/59 "2012-10-22T14:45:53Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > **Why is my elevator dispensing quarters?** Your elevator is having an identity crisis. Use the quarters to hire a shrink for it. ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198/60 "2012-10-27T00:00:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You should be able to nose him as you go up the stairs. Huh? Oh, I get it, because if person A indicates that person B made a comment that person A found to be humorous, you (person C) think that person A must be brown-nosing person B, right? Is that it? Ah, I think I see the problem here. Expressions that indicate that someone found a comment to be funny are exchanged quite commonly between people without any feeling that one party is brown-nosing or sucking up to the other. Most people that hear such comments take little note of them one way or the other, especially when they are not one of the parties directly involved. Your apparent lack of familiarity with this social convention probably led you to misunderstand the situation (and I suspect you’ve never heard someone say “That’s funny” or something similar before, so you can hardly be blamed for not understanding how to react), but you will find that if you ever make a humorous comment, someone willl say to you, “That’s funny” and you can take your turn basking in the sun, and realize that it was not such a big deal after all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-my-elevator-dispensing-quarters/638198.md?page=4)