When you know that you no longer trust the system…

I work in a quite infamous building. A few recall the Watergate Hotel…some may have a slight remembrance of the Tower of London…and still others have heard through a keyhole about an askew structure in Pisa. But at USC it’s (dun, dun, duuuuh): Waite Phillips Hall. The infamy is derived from a couple of different sources. One of these is not fodder for a light-hearted romp along the blog path, so I’m not going to discuss it here. Interestingly though, it’s the second source that staff at USC always remember – the elevators. WPH has eleven stories and three very ancient elevators. From the moment I took my current position and began to tell fellow USC staff where I would be working, I was treated to the ever familiar adage “Y’know the elevators up there are murder.” Since that time I have been stuck on elevators, experienced the thrill of a bouncy (literally – you might even call it Tigger-style) elevator, stopped at every floor except the one corresponding to the button I pushed, and ridden in pitch-black elevators whose lights had gone out half way up to my “home” on the eleventh floor. Today, when the earthquake hit in Parkfield, Central CA, our entire building felt like it was taking a bouncing lesson from the elevators. So, for the rest of the day, I decided to take the stairs, just in case. It’s quite a hike getting to and from lunch what with 22 flights to climb each way, but it’s better than risking an unexpected amusement park ride in the elevator (they could call it Extreme Freefall). I just hope the stairs don’t start getting any ideas.