Francisco Miraval
A few days ago, I went to an office building where the parking lot is below the building. After parking my car, I went to the elevator, because I had to go from the lower level of the building to the top floor. I called the elevator and a few moments later its doors opened.
“I am going up! Don’t enter!” told me a man from inside the elevator, his left arm extended and showing me the palm of his hands with all his fingers also extended, making a clear sign I should not enter the elevator. Before I could react, the doors closed.
Two minutes later, the elevator returned, this time empty, and I was able to go to my floor without any additional incident. But what the unknown man told me deserves further consideration. What did he really mean with his words and his gesture?
I only saw him for a few moments, but I think he was wearing the uniform of a well-known package delivery company. Perhaps he was running late to complete a delivery. Perhaps the elevator was full of packages and there was no room for me. Or perhaps he saw me and he decided he did not want my company, not even for a few floors.
I should mention that, being at the lowest level of the building, there was no option to go even lower. The only option was to go up. So, telling me “I am going up!” seems to be unnecessary, because there was no other way to go. Unless, of course, the true intention of the man was to tell me, “I am going up, but not you. At least not now and certainly not with me.”
The encounter lasted just a few seconds and, therefore, I am not sure if that was his intention. However, I have seen similar intentions in people who, after improving their socio-economic status or changing their immigration status, rush to close the doors because they do not want others to “go up.”
“I am going up. You, on the other hand, stay here, down below. If you want to go up, go alone. I am not going to hold the door for you and I do not want you next to me.” That is what many people seem to say after their situation improve, perhaps forgetting where they are coming from and wrongly assuming they now have the right to close the doors to others.
I also visited the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. There, I needed to take the elevator to visit the towers of the cathedral. As soon as the elevator came, a man held the doors open and invited others to get it, constantly repeating, “We are going up and there is still room!” Soon, the elevator was full to capacity.
I wonder which man I am, if the one inside the elevator at the office building or the man inside the elevator at the National Cathedral. Perhaps I am both.