Ever
noticed how awkward it is to ride an elevator? It is as though another world
exists within it that requires only the minimal amount of interaction in order
to seem oddly normal to people. Greg Tannen, a writer from The New Yorker,
happens to notice as well, and he is not afraid of mocking our horribly awkward
elevator process as a result.
The article itself is satirical,
and from the get-go the whole piece has a tone of light-hearted mockery that
makes you want to almost laugh at yourself when you realize you are guilty of
these things as well. His article is built off of many instructions, and each
one seems more ridiculous than the last whether it is by telling you to only stare ahead, only ask people certain
questions and otherwise remain silent, or not to attempt to make conversation
lest people see you as a “psychopath”. It is almost second nature for us to
follow these instructions normally, but reading them—all of them—in the blunt
way he presents it makes the whole thing seem more than silly. After all, for a
society that tends to push for socializing with others in public rather than
looking at a phone, the elevator tends to be the last place to take advantage
of that sentiment. Sometimes they get broken, and people might start
conversation, but for most readers, anyone should be able to know what this
sort of experience is like, and they can relate to it with ease.
The article itself was fairly
humorous, and its straight-forward nature, much like our gazes in the elevator,
gets Tannen’s point across while offering us a chance to laugh at our own weird
social practices.
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