To the people who take the lift just one floor. Why?

We have all been there. Fifth-floor lecture? Take the lifts! Only someone else has a class on the first floor and joins the ride. Argh! Lucie Skorvagova shares her frustrations.

I always assumed lifts were supposed to make your life easier. They raise you higher and drop you lower. Stairs make you feel as if you will not be able to use your legs or breathe ever again. Whereas, lifts float you effortlessly to where you need to be.

On the other hand, stairs are a great exercise that works pretty much every muscle in your lower body, as well as strengthening your core. I am not trying to say that we should run up and down the 110 stairs in Penrhyn Road’s John Galsworthy building in search for a buff body, but it would be an added bonus.

However, it makes perfect sense to take a lift when you have a lecture on the fifth-floor, and you do not want to spend two hours sitting between your classmates looking and smelling like you have just run a marathon. Or maybe you are late, and even though you would typically make an effort and conquer those stairs, you choose to take the easy route. Funnily enough, it can actually be faster and less annoying to walk to the fifth floor than take a lift. How is that possible? In my experience, as soon as the lift arrives, it is full within seconds.

Fair enough. People might have realised they only have five minutes before their next lecture or seminar starts. Panic-stricken, they need to get to where they are supposed to be as soon as possible. The lift is obviously their first choice. Both fast and effortless. Or at least that is what you would think. If you are lucky enough to get inside before the 10 other hopefuls, brace yourself to experience claustrophobia and awkwardness. Try not to touch anybody and make sure nobody is touching you at the same time. Maybe you are trying to avoid staring at yourself in the mirror, and thinking what is worse, an awkward silence or listening to a very private conversation? Be ready to not exist for a moment of your life and survive that struggle as you tell yourself it will be worth it. The lift starts to move upwards. You look forward to reaching the fifth-floor.

But all of a sudden… it stops. You panic, thinking that maybe you are stuck. You will never see the sun again, and then it dawns on you. There is something worse than that. You open your eyes very slowly and take a deep breath. You are right. Your worst nightmare has come true. Somebody is getting off… on the first-floor.

Twenty-two stairs. It is only 22 stairs from the ground-floor to the first. It takes maybe 20 seconds and yet, here is somebody who cannot handle this minor athletic challenge; somebody who is guilt-free in disrupting the rest of our lives. Just when you think it cannot get worse, the lift stops on the second floor. For all of our sakes, please walk to the first-floor. Much appreciated.