By Christos Zabounis

Wrong! The most widely used means of mass transportation in modern history is neither the railway, nor the bus, nor the airplane — but the elevator. Ascenseur in French, from the Latin ascendere, meaning “to rise.” In Greek, the formal term is anelkystíras, derived from aná (up) and élkō (to pull), to draw upward.

First question: Who has priority when entering? Ladies and the elderly.
Second question: What do we do once inside the elevator? We press the button for our floor only if we are alone. When there are other passengers, we address them according to the same order of precedence as in the first question, asking which floor they are going to.

The height of refinement is, upon reaching our destination, to press the ground-floor button, thus reducing the waiting time for those who will arrive later.

In civilized countries, it is customary for people – whether they know each other or not – to exchange a simple “good morning,” especially in private residential buildings (apartment blocks). By contrast, in elevators belonging to companies or public institutions, or even in the metro, all hell breaks loose. What do I mean by this? Beyond the inevitable shoving – the crude jostling over who will enter first – one observes a profoundly antisocial behavior, with most people glued to their mobile phone screens, when they are not staring blankly into the void.

A similarly claustrophobic packed-like-sardines situation prevails during exit as well. Let us, however, recall the old, good rules by way of consolation. Those exiting have priority over those entering. We enter only after everyone has exited. If the elevator is full, we wait for its return. Upon entering, we position ourselves to the side, with our backs against the wall, in order to create space.

We avoid telephone calls, as is proper in all public spaces, and in the event of a malfunction we remain calm. Finally, if the elevator is of older technology, we hold the door both when entering and exiting. In the latter case, we never exit first.