Modern University Elevator Etiquette

When riding the elevator, there is nothing more irritating than stopping one short level away from the end of an interminable ride.

There is nothing pleasant about being jammed into the elevator with a group of strangers. You may never have been bothered by claustrophobia before coming to UCSF, but after riding our elevators for a while, you may notice you are developing symptoms. We’ve all experienced the horrors of the morning elevator ride, packed like sardines and watching as the elevator stops at each and every level. The door slides open to reveal a person who always seems nonplussed that the elevator is so full! Or maybe they act nonplussed because everyone inside the elevator is glaring at them for interrupting the ride. At such moments, we have all had the thought “there's got to be a better way” while crawling slowly upward. Here are some ideas to make the ride a little easier for all of us: 

• Don't take the elevator if you're only going one floor! (Important note: this does not apply to anyone with disabilities). When riding the elevator, there is nothing more irritating than stopping one short level away from the end of an interminable ride.

• Watch those backpacks. Most students boarding the elevator are toting a large backpack. Have a care when boarding the elevator, particularly when you swing around to face the front. Any poor person standing too closely behind (and in UCSF elevators, we’re all standing too closely behind), can take the full brunt of your swinging backpack. It's not a fun way to start the morning. 

• Don’t lean against the control panel.  The observant among us have noticed that there is a second control panel located on the side of the elevator, provided for those with disabilities. The unobservant among us do not notice this panel, and lean against the wall on which it is located, and then the fun begins. The wide-bodied can light up as many as four buttons at a time. The time it takes for the elevator to stop at levels D, E, F and G gives others in the elevator plenty of time to reflect on just how self-aware the inadvertent button pusher isn’t. 

• Please let us suffer in silence. The elevator ride is bad enough; don't make it worse by squeezing in and making some lame joke. No one feels like laughing, especially in the morning. And after you've been here for a few months, you've heard all the jokes there are about squeezing into a crowded elevator. Take a vow of silence for the duration of the ride. 

Elevators, like life, have their ups and downs. Here's hoping all your rides are smooth ones. – From an article by T. Neagle, for The Synapse, 2003

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

1920’s “Elevator Etiquette Editor”

Discussion of the question was suggested by a woman who signed herself  “Fighting Feminist.” She endorsed what the editorial writer had to say and declared that men, in the business world, were losing the proper amount of respect for women.” – Above, Fighting Feminist, Rose Mc Gowan, styled as 1920’s era actress, Clara Bow.

Hats on in L.A. Elevators Wins 136 to 19

Votes for Hats On 136  
Votes for Hats Off 19  
Votes for Compromise 46 

There is the final tally in the discussion of whether men should remove their hats when women enter an elevator. Two hundred and one letters were received by the “Elevator Etiquette Editor” with the following interesting results: The advocates of the rule that the hats should not come off number 136, approximately 7 times as many as those in favor of the hats oft rule. 

46 for Compromise 

Forty-six favored a compromise, that the hats should come off in hotel and apartment house elevators and remain on in elevators in all other buildings. Only 19 were for the straight out-and-out proposition of the removal of hats on all elevator. More letters were received from men than from women. One hundred and twenty-two men wrote, while only 59 letters were received from women. Twenty-seven signed anonymously without sex distinction. Of the 122 letters by the men only eight expressed the opinion that hats should be removed under all conditions. Eleven women were for the hats off rule. The majority for a compromise were sent in by the women. 

Public Conveyance 

Almost all of those who advocated that the hats should stay on declared that an elevator is a public conveyance, the same as a street car. With the elevator classified as a public conveyance, they asserted, there is no logical reason for the doffing of the headpieces. Those who were for a compromise held that there is a vast difference between a business elevator and an elevator in a hotel or apartment house. They claimed that when one enters a hotel or apartment house elevator, he should conduct himself exactly as if he were in a private home, thus making the removal of hats imperative. Discussion of the question of elevator etiquette was suggested by a woman who signed herself  “Fighting Feminist,” after she had read an editorial urging the men to remove their hats. She endorsed what the editorial writer had to say and declared that men, in the business world, were losing the proper amount of respect for women. 

Don’t Care 

The business women who wrote to the “Elevator Etiquette Editor” took a somewhat unexpected view of the question. Most all of them either stated plainly or intimated strongly that they “didn’t care a whoop” whether the men took off their hats to them in the elevator or not. “Let them do as they please—they will anyway,” was the way one girl put it. Several of the women and a number of the men declared that it was impolite for a man to remove his hat to a woman in an elevator. They argued that a man should never salute a woman whom he does not know. While the result of the discussion conducted by the “Elevator Etiquette Editor” does not set an arbitrary rule it may, at least, be considered as an expression of public opinion. – Los Angeles Herald, 1920

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Early 20th C. Etiquette for Elevators or Lifts

Art deco design of the Empire State Building elevator door.

"When a man passes a lady on a staircase, in the corridor of a hotel, in the elevator of a private apartment house, or in the public rooms of a hotel, he lifts his hat although she may be a stranger. This rule does not prevail on the staircases and in the corridors of office buildings, with the exception, perhaps, of banks and such offices as people of wealth frequent; for a new fineness of courtesy has made men feel that, as women are winning an equality of position in the business field, a delicate way of recognizing that equality is by giving them a comradely deference rather than paying them the social attentions." From Edith Ordwy's "Etiquette of To-Day" 1918

"A new fineness of courtesy has made men feel that, as women are winning an equality of position in the business field, a delicate way of recognizing that equality is by giving them a comradely deference rather than paying them the social attentions." Dr. Meredith Grey is lost in the hospital.

"Authorities are divided on the subject of elevator etiquette, some denouncing in round terms the man who is so rude as to keep his hat on in an elevator where there are ladies; arguing that the elevator is a "little room," an "interior," not a thoroughfare. Others are equally emphatic in asserting that the elevator is a thoroughfare, merely; and that hats are not to be removed, except under the same conditions that would call for their removal in the street – as the greeting of acquaintances, or the exchange of civilities. 

The good sense of this view is apparent. A hat held in the hand in a crowded elevator is sure to be in the way, and liable to be crushed. A gentleman who wishes to compromise between stolid ignoring of the ladies who are strangers, and superfluous recognition of their presence, may lift his hat and replace it immediately, when a lady enters the elevator, or when he enters an elevator where ladies already are. Such a courtesy differs from a greeting in this: a stranger offering this elevator civility does not look at the lady, nor does he bend his head; and his lifted hat is an impersonal tribute to the sex. 

A lady makes no response to such a courtesy; yet there is in her general bearing a subtle something, hard to describe, but which every gentleman will readily recognize, that shows whether or not she observes and appreciates his little act of deference. The atmosphere of good manners may be as invisible as the air about us; but we know when we are breathing it." From "Etiquette" by Agnes H. Morton, 1919

"A gentleman takes off his hat and holds it in his hand when a lady enters the elevator in which he is a passenger, but he puts it on again in the corridor. A public corridor is like the street, but an elevator is suggestive of a room, and a gentleman does not keep his hat on in the presence of ladies in a house. This is the rule in elevators in hotels, clubs and apartments. In office buildings and stores the elevator is considered as public a place as the corridor. What is more, the elevators in such business structures are usually so crowded that the only room for a man's hat is on his head. But even under these conditions a gentleman can reveal his innate respect for women by not permitting himself to be crowded too near to them." From "Etiquette" Emily Post, 1922

Original lift door from Selfridge's in London.

"In one of the oldest banks in New York each boy who enters is given a few days' intensive training by a gentleman chosen for the purpose. The instructor stresses the fundamentals of character and, above all things, going in front of a person when there is room to go around him, not pushing into an elevator ahead of every common sense. Courtesy is rarely discussed as a separate quality but simple instructions are given about not one else, not speaking to a man at a desk until he has signified that he is ready, and about sustaining quiet and orderly behavior everywhere. The atmosphere in the bank is the kind that encourages gentlemanly conduct and the new boys either fall in with it or else get out and go somewhere else." From The Book of Business Etiquette 1922, Author Unknown

Is he expecting a dollar or a quarter?

On Tipping the "Elevator Starter"
"A long-time guest in a hotel usually tips the elevator starter fifty cents or more on leaving if he has been helpful and another quarter or more to elevator men who have served him. A resident in a hotel tips the elevator men regularly serving him a dollar a month approximately and remembers the starter, too, at regular intervals." From 1957's "Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette"

 

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for Elevators and Lifts

Rarely will you need surgery in an elevator, but if you fear a power outage, or you are adverse to standing in a limited space with a crowd of other people, you can always take the stairs.

Elevators have a way of magnifying the stresses limited space can bring on. It's a scary thought to many people. You have a group of strangers packed into a small room, suspended by only cables, as it moves up and down. It's often a very uncomfortable experience. 

In the summer, you'll most likely be dodging a variety of odors that heat simply exacerbates. You may get strong whiffs of people's breakfasts, lunches and perspiration. In winter, you can wind up squished in between heavy coats and wet umbrellas of others in the elevator with you. 

 Here are the etiquette rules one should keep in mind for elevators or lifts, to make everyone's ride a bit smoother:

1. Before Entering Let Others Exit: Don't block the doors. Wait momentarily as the doors open to see if anybody moves or appears to be preparing to leave. If everyone stays where they are at, you've got a green light to get in.
2. Always Face the Door if Possible: If you're looking everybody else in the face, turn around. You might be having a conversation with somebody, but let the conversation rest while you travel up or down.  
3. What Not to Wear: Take caution not to bump others with your backpack, tote, messenger bag, yoga mat, etc... If it is hanging off of you and taking up space, attempt to put it on the floor in front of you. Do not remove your hat, coat, or gloves; again, you may bump into others or make others more anxious. 
4. Stand Near the Control Panel: If you're among the first to enter on the ground floor and will be getting off at one of the lower floors, stand off to a corner near the door and let the others who get on, fill in the space behind you. If you're in the front and are getting off at a higher floor, step out at intervening stops, hold your hand on the door to prevent it from closing, and re-board after others have gotten off. Especially polite is to press the hold button to keep the doors open until everyone is aboard, if you are standing near the control board and won't be in anyone's way.  

   

   Don't block the doors.  No one can leave before you enter.

5. Ask "Which floor?": If the lift is overly crowded and you are nearby the buttons, ask people to call out their floors so that you can press the floor buttons for them. Don't make them reach through the crowd, making everyone else uncomfortable.
6. Hang Up Your Phone: No one wants to listen to a one-sided conversation of someone they don't know. Fortunately, many elevators have poor mobile phone reception, but for those that don't, please make your call before or after getting in the elevator.
7. The Little Pleasantries: Never whisper to another adult in the presence of others. It will only make people around you try to listen more to what you are saying. Teach your children to be quiet in elevators as well.  It will reflect well on you as a parent, and those riding with you won't be annoyed.  If the elevator isn't too crowded, and you have a moment, make eye contact, smile, and say hello if you want to. – From a variety of sources online and in books

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia