Do you hesitate on escalators?

[zane900 1]

I ride public transportation enough to notice that there are people who step onto escalators without being phased and other people who have to step on just right. These people are frustrating as hell, but that's another story entirely.

I only hesitate on downward escalators. I figure that if I fall on an upward one, I'll just get back up on my own two feet and end up closer towards my destination.

If my feet fail me on a downward escalator I will certainly get to the bottom more quickly than I otherwise would, but my destination might change from "home" to "hospital."

So what about it? Do you step on like you're lord of your domain, or are you all wishy-washy? If you are, why?

[coolotter88 2]

if you fall down an upwards going escalator, you could fall for quite a long time.

[fukuda 351]

Escalators are so crowded here that I would fall on someone instead of rolling down

[Voar Tok 4]

Originally posted by: zane900

So what about it? Do you step on like you're lord of your domain, or are you all wishy-washy? If you are, why?quote>

Lord of my domain - unless I notice that I'm about to step on a seam, and then I'll hesitate just enough to get my foot securely on only one step.

Originally posted by: coolotter88 if you fall down an upwards going escalator, you could fall for quite a long time.quote>

This reminds me of something a friend of mine sent me on Facebook - "slinky + escalator = endless fun!"

[Smarty218 2]

"slinky + escalator = endless fun!"quote>

Lol.....

Anyways, this thread is the definition of off-topic, but I must confess that I always look down before stepping on an escalator...

[ilikehotdogsalot 311]

I've fallen down countless escalators.

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

I hesitate so I don't step on one of the "seams" and my foot is half off the step when it comes up...

Has anyone ever run up the down escalators before?  Great fun if you are bored at the store...   But you have to move fast...

[your_adress_here 11]

I don't actually hesitate, but I try to get my timing so that I don't get on a seam, or I'll take a smaller step. But I don't hesitate as in slowing down, I keep going at the same rate.

[Explodingsims 3]

I just step on. Usally I have enough balance that If I step on a seam, I don't fall.

And I've beaten the Down Escalator, it's downward steps were no match for my running!

[Nerd_Guy 4]

I don't stop, I don't look, I just step.

Which as led to and awful lot of "Oh sh*t!" moments as two stairs split apart and I fall down...

[Goldfish4209 9]

Most of the time, I look at the escelator and time my step to ensure a solid step onto a section. I have this irrational overcautiousness when it comes to escelators.

But, I have heard of people who have gotten badly hurt falling down escelators, so maybe that's why I'm overcautious.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

I tend to at least look to be sure my foot is fully on a step, as the dire warning when we were kids was always to be careful lest your clothes get caught in a seam and you get sucked under and strangled or ground into meaty pulp by the machinery. Does that even ever happen anymore?

[Hamish 1,370]

Well, I don't hesitate. I just jump right on. Maybe not the best idea, as it usually ends up with me getting a cut or scrape on my leg by overstepping it. But I get down the escalator in the end.

On the topic of escalators, have you ever watched people running down the escalators that don't have steps, you see them at places like airports. Well, any way, its funny to watch right at the end because they run at the same speed but the ground stops moving, so the speed up, causing them to trip up or lose balance.

[s_olah 87]

Originally posted by: BlondeTwiggy

Has anyone ever run up the down escalators before?  Great fun if you are bored at the store...   But you have to move fast...quote>

I've tried that once...by accident, i forgot to validate my ticket, so instead of going down and coming back up, i tried to run up. No need to say, the escalator  was faster than me, I fell, and started crawling back up, grabing other poeple's legs, my jar full of home made soup broke, there were carrots all over the subway...it was the most embarrassing moment of my life...

[Micah 16]

I've hesitated a few times. I actually only hesitate on the ones going up... I'm not sure why, but I do. For the ones going down, I jump right on them.

[Danlikebooks 6]

This reminds me of an old TV show where the main character has to be better at creating havoc then Eris (the goddess of Discord).  The main character pushes someone down the up escalator, causing that person to fall down the up escalator in perpetual motion.

[Cleaner475 150]

I tend to at least look to be sure my foot is fully on a step, as the dire warning when we were kids was always to be careful lest your clothes get caught in a seam and you get sucked under and strangled or ground into meaty pulp by the machinery. Does that even ever happen anymore? quote>

I hope not, but I doubt anyone is going to test it to see if it does still happen ,

I avoid the 'seams' but I don't fear going downwards on an escalators, I used to when I was a bit younger but I don't now, it doesn't seems so weird or dangerous once you've grown a bit,

Richard

[Joesocwork 4]

In the Washington D.C. Metro system I'm so busy trying to either get to a train or my car that I look straight ahead and don't notice. I assist my 8 y.o. daughter in stepping on during the weekends though. The Metro also has an unofficial protocol that people standing on the steps stay on the right and the people not standing pass on the left, just like a multi-lane street or highway.

[psander5 198]

When stepping onto the down escalator i like to place my feet on the seam. I like the ground to open up beneath my feet. It's a tiny bit like flying. I sense that you don't quite get it?! i don't expect anyone to.

When going up, sometimes I like to have one foot on one step, the other on another. Sometimes i like to make it so my toes are just across the seam (one foot only). You get a free calf stretch. I save loads of money on gyms by doing things like this.

To answer the query; I don't hesitate. I have a long approach. By the time i arrive my steps are usually in time with the machine.

This is a great thread btw. It could spawn a whole series.

s_olah: Ouch! Thanks for sharing. That must have hurt (pride)

[hym 358]

I only hesitate if people are blocking the way. Otherwise, I've usually synced myself with the escalator so I just step on and make any adjustments while I'm on the escalator.

[coolotter88 2]

lol@moving walkways, they should have paid attention during high school physics.

[Duke87 1,070]

Well, I do glance down to make sure I'm stepping soundly on a step and not on a seam, but I try not to break stride if I can avoid it. And once I'm on the escalator, if there's no one in front of me I tend to keep walking as if it were stairs to speed up the trip. It's annoying to be walking for a while and then have to stop dead and then start again at the top. When you're got your heart rate up you wanna keep moving, ya know?

[The_Dalai_Llama 15]

Just when I thought we ran out of topics... ST surprises me again.

I do look below to be safe, though.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: The_Dalai_Llama Just when I thought we ran out of topics... ST surprises me again.

I do look below to be safe, though.quote>

Don't know if you intended it, but there's a double meaning here: "look below to be safe" could mean checking to make sure a topic doesn't already exist. As in, below on the page.

Fancy.

[wolverine 12]

Not at all. When I was kid, I would try and step on department store escalators in the worst way possible, especially between the stairs so that I deliberately fall onto my two year older sister. I also used to\ stand completely still until the steps went beneath the platform.

Sometime back in high school, we had a new student that later became my friend. He came from a\ rural area of the US, distant from any urban place capable of producing the sophistication of moving stairs. Well, that day he experienced his first time in a parking structure as well as on an escalator. We stepped on as usual, but when we turned around, he was still at the bottom waiting for the right moment. Quite a shock.

[cheese91 9]

I hate to admit it, but I am one who hesitates. I do, though, have a story behind why that's the case.

See, I used to be the "lord of my domain" kind of person, stepping on to up-escalators and down-escalators with confidence. However, about 6 or 7 years ago, I stepped onto a down-escalator. No hesitations, just stepped right on. Well, I was unaware that my shoe lace was untied, and I happened to step on a "crack" in between the escalator steps. I got stuck, fell down a couple stairs, scraped up my leg, and lost a shoe lace . Ever since, I've looked down and hesitated before stepping onto an escalator, up or down, and I always make sure my shoes are tied. So, my apologies for being one of those obnoxious hesitater-s...but next time one of them frustrates you, consider the possibility that maybe they, like myself, fell down a flight of escalator steps

[PhilsCafe 8]

Usually, I'm lord of my domain when it comes to stepping onto an escalator - upward or downward (that actually nearly made me fall a couple of times on upward escalators though)... but I'm hesitating when I have to step on solid ground again. I think that's the difficult part...

[vailo 13]

It doesn't matter where I step, sometimes on an upwards escelator I deliberately step on a seam and try to hold myself up on my toes. Also, in airport terminals, when there is no one around, I walk backwards on the flat "escelators" and stay in one place.

[mightygoose 92]

i generally adjust my pace on approach, my oddball occurs when i continue to move at that pace up or down the moving escalator.... people look really confused when i ask to squeeze past....

[Hanson784 165]

I look down to see where I'm stepping.

I also walk up and down the escalator in subway stations. During the rush hour when someone is standing they are thought to hold up the line by not stepping to one side. Needless to say people can get annoyed with the exception of the elderly. Most escalators are too small for people to pass so I keep the line flowing.

Also, I almost had a drunken guy in front of me, who was coming from a baseball game, fall on me going up the escalator last month. His drunken friend behind me fell as he got on the escalator. I've been taking the stairs since.