Going Up

Last week something happened to lil Hugh and I that had and still has me shaking.
I faced a fear, although not at all by choice.

We were in a local department store returning a clothing item and I got in store credit.  I wanted to browse and I could because Hugh rests very well in his stroller.  Oh lightening strike me down.  The clothes I wanted to look at were upstairs so we rolled onto the elevator-alone.

I pressed the little white button to go up to the  UL  (upper level).  It started to go up and instead of going all the way up-the elevator bounced.  It bounced in a scary way-not in a you have arrived to your destination sort of way.  Maybe bounce is not the right word.  It sounds too fun.  It jolted.  We jolted. The door did not open for us to get out.  It was silent and I knew we weren't all the way up.  I knew we weren't up and I knew we weren't down.  I knew we were stuck.   But I didn't know what to do. 

My first thought was to hit the "door open" button.  I did it.  Nothing happened.  My second thought was to hit "LL" (lower level) to see if I could go back to where I started....but I also feared that pressing LL would release the brakes and we would fall....to the basement.  But I knew I couldn't call security or the elevator people without pressing the buttons because how silly would I be if I alerted everyone and the solution was the button to go back down.  The button for the UL was still lit up and after a deep breath I pushed the LL button, which also illuminated.  My next step was to hit the alarm button.  It rang the bell for a few seconds and I realized that wasn't going to help much if I truly was stuck between floors.

Meanwhile, lil Hughie woke up and was not the happiest camper.  I was getting hot and sweaty and I'm sure I was talking out loud to myself although I can't remember anything that I said and I wasn't calming down. 

Finally I opened the little silver door that is in every elevator.  I thought there would be a phone to pick up and make a call.  But instead there was a speaker and a white button.  Another button.  I pressed it.  There just was no other option.  I am not sure what I expected.  The lady who answered the call said "Are you stuck in an elevator?".  I shouted back at her "YES and I have a baby!".  Then it was silent.  So I picked up my phone and tried to call Andy.  What was he going to do? I knew there would be no reception.



Finally I yelled "HELLO?" and pressed the button again.  The lady came back on the intercom and asked what floor I was on.  "Um.....I don't think I'm on a floor AND I HAVE A BABY!".  She really didn't say anything else.  I was in full out sweat mode now.  I pressed the button again and said "I'm getting really scared and I have a baby".  I was wondering if I should pick up Hugh and sit on the floor or what the safest thing would be in case we dropped.  You never really hear of an elevator dropping but it is inevitably the first thing that crosses your mind when you are stuck.  Repeating loudly "And I have a baby!" was the only thing I knew I had to do.  I thought playing the baby card would speed things up.

Needless to say-the elevator finally moved and down it went to the LL.  The door opened and we strolled out.  There was not a soul in site-no technician coming to my rescue.  No department store employee bringing me a glass of water.  I looked around, held in my tears and walked out of the store. 
I later called the store to report what happened.  They were so grateful that I called because the elevator company had alerted them and they were in the process of fixing the elevator.  I told them what I had needed in that situation.  I would have appreciated if the person who answered the alarm would have had some training in keeping elevator riders calm.  Maybe if she could have given me a timeline or some information on what she was doing on her end.  She could have offered to call someone for me since my phone didn't work.  Or even if she had been able to tell me that I was in fact on level 2 or between floors or something.  Just something. 

But now what do I do? How do I shake my fear?  I know that I was the best person to be stuck with Hugh-I could feed him and change his diaper and soothe him.  But who was going to soothe me???  How can I go anywhere with a baby stroller and not use an elevator?  I've already faced my fear and ridden in about 3.  But I will be honest, I also have avoided and taken the stairs whenever I could-while Andy took an empty stroller up and down. 

Has this happened to you? If so-share your story with me.....tell me how to face this fear again...tell me you personally know that the breaks on an elevator are perfect and it would never fall.  Tell me!