OK That's a Little Weird

A friend reports that the never-reliable elevators where she works have now started to operate themselves, independently of any human involvement. The Otis repair people said it might be because of some recent rain. I hate to suggest that we shouldn't have confidence in our elevator repair people—life is full enough of anxiety as it is—but that sounds like guesswork to me. If some rain could make elevators start acting like they had minds of their own, wouldn't you hear about it happening more often? 

Frankly, elevators are strange and threatening things. You go in this little chamber and then a heavy door slides shut by itself. And there you are! The machine will let you out if it jolly well feels like it! And here we see that with a little rain, elevators are capable of going right off the reservation. "Anyway," I wrote to the friend, "I hope they're replaced. A society in which elevators are running wild cannot long endure."