the elevators in our building have not been terribly efficient at the best of times, but at some point last week they (accidentally?) got set to "wheelchair access" mode, which keeps the doors open for 2 minutes every time they stop, and renders functionless the "door close" button. as one might expect, this has resulted in dozens of people milling in the lift lobby for half the morning before they can get upstairs to their offices, not to mention the extreme awkwardness of having to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers for what feels like hours before finally getting to ones floor. today, however, was different, because the elevators have now decided to ignore their passengers' instructions entirely, so that one seems to have an equally likely chance of going up or down no matter what button one presses before finally being let off at a completely random floor. unfortunately, the humor in this situation lasts a much shorter time than one might think.