The elevator stopped at 12, and a woman stood at the door with a man behind her. She was dressed for business with high heels and a skirt, blouse, and jacket, purse under one arm and briefcase hanging from the other shoulder. He looked to be headed for the airport, dressed casually, but with his laptop case, and two carry-ons.
She stepped into the elevator and stopped. "I'm stuck," she said. She looked over her shoulder at the guy and said more emphatically, "I'm stuck." Her heel was stuck in one of the the channels in the stainless steel threshold of the elevator. She pulled, but didn't move.
Now, in that situation, it is rather obvious that the guy who had accompanied her should drop what he was carrying and extricate her from the trap before the door scissored her leg off at the calf, which would have solved her problem, but would have caused a mess, to the delight of my three canine companions. As it turned out, he did help her. He kicked at the high heel of her shoe until it came out of the channel ... a poor solution in my view, which could have caused damage to the fine-looking shoe, but he didn't drop even one of the bags he was carrying.
The question, however, arises: What if the guy wasn't there? To what extent would I have been required to assist he to get her unstuck?
Posted by Bill at June 6, 2006 09:52 AMme thinks your answer is totally dependent on how bad YOU wanted to get where YOU were going. Selfish? Maybe, but,I don't think so. Your stepping up to help in a gentlemanly fashion, would have shown the man (or at least, others on the elevator) what an ass he was; and, more importantly, you would have been on your way...
Posted by: Tracy Stuart at June 6, 2006 10:35 AMoops! Your question was, "what if the guy wasn't there?" (just visiting you from trying to start my own blog--crazy) Well, in that case, he still would be an ass; and you, brother Bill, would have done your good deed for the day! Love...
Posted by: Tracy Stuart at June 6, 2006 10:45 AMWhat Tracy said. There is a seat in heaven directly next to god that is reserved for people that do good deeds POLITELY.
Posted by: KathyHowe at June 6, 2006 11:07 AMIf she was alone "The Damsel In Distress Rule" would go into effect which means you would have been obligated to help.
Posted by: Vito at June 6, 2006 03:22 PMWell Bill, I'm not certain about "the damsel in distress" thing;(no offense to the author's comment) because it seems to me, the damsel could have wiggled her foot out of the shoe, and reached over and yanked the thing out of the elevator hardware. She obviously wanted to save the shoe. Her male friend may as well not have been there! The jerk should have dropped his bundle to help her. If he had not physically been there, however, I believe you would have done a better thing to help the damsel than he actually did. It would have been an automatic response on your part to ask, "how can I help you?"
Posted by: Tracy Stuart at June 6, 2006 08:55 PMShe was a silly ass. Why the hell didn't she just put down her shit and step out of the shoe and grab it? what's with the pathetic little glance over the shoulder bit? Oy. Some women!
Posted by: Keri at June 6, 2006 10:40 PMThat's what the city girl gets for wearing vain contraptions like high heels.
Sensible footwear, like Justin Ropers, would never have gotten stuck in an elevator.
Come to think of it, anyone wearing Justin Ropers wouldn't have been in an elevator anyway.
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at June 10, 2006 10:26 AM