Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Wheels on the Door Go Round and Round....Hopefully

5 years ago (5.5 if you count my internship) when I started working in the building that I work in we had big heavy doors in the front of the building   They were ginormous and you had to throw your entire body into pulling them open, but they were normal doors and they served their purpose.  About 3 years ago they replaced those ginormous heavy doors with one of these babies.
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Yes that is a revolving door.  As a child these doors always offered lots of fun and entertainment when I came across them because I could go round and round and Mom knew I would not run off.  Plus most doors are not revolving and it was something out of the ordinary...like on the same level as an escalator (you know you got in trouble for going the wrong way on an escalator...don't lie we all did).

I am not sure when but somewhere along the way the revolving door started looking less like a playground and more like a revolving circle of death. Maybe it was the large automatic revolving doors that lots of airports started installing to help people with massive amounts of luggage get out of the baggage terminal without having to put their bags down.  Those things work great until you bump it and then it stops, with you inside the door...and no way out.  For whatever reason, revolving doors look like this to me now:

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Remember jumping rope as a child how many times it took to jump into rope when 2 other people were turning it?  Or am I the only one who had to watch it go by 7 or 8 times before I'd jump in.  That's the feeling I get when I see a revolving door....especially an automatic one. I am always convinced that something (a purse, shoe string, arm) will get stuck.  And don't even THINK about getting into a section of a revolving door with me if I absolutely have to use one.  I WILL freak out and do an awkward penguin shuffle to get out of it as fast as I can without falling.

So why all of the door talk today?  Ever since they installed the revolving door in my building there were 2 side doors for handicap access on the sides, one of which could always be opened from the outside, allowing be to bypass the revolving circle of death on my way in and out of the building each day.  But this morning?....that option was taken away from me, as the door is now LOCKED from the outside.  After cursing under my breath I had no choice, but to use it.  I made it through (obviously), but I was very very thankful there was no one pushing on the door in front of or behind me trying to trap me in it.  I have never been so thankful that I come to work before most because I can imagine myself having a minor meltdown if there were lots of people all trying to use this one door at one time (not to mention having to stand in line to come in the door).

I hope hope hope this is a temporary thing and all will be right with the world soon when someone decides to unlock the door from the outside. Until then I will have to hold my breath and pray that I don't fall halfway through. You better believe I will still be exiting the non-revolving door on the regular. It will be one more reason to look forward to the end of the day!

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