My fear of heights doesn’t make any sense. I’ve been up in the St. Louis Arch at least 12 times; I can walk through the viewing area with no issues and can actually look out the windows which are 630 feet above the hard hard ground. I’ve been up in a hot air balloon twice. I’ve even flown in an open air bi-plane. None of these experiences bothered me.
But last week I was faced by one of my fear-of-heights nemeses – a glass elevator. Four times I year I drop off cards for one of my charities. All the elevators in the building are glass elevators – I checked the first time I went there. I am only going to the second floor but every time I’m standing in front of those elevator doors, I’m wondering if maybe there are stairs someplace in the building to get me to the next level.
These aren’t the only glass elevators I’ve had trouble with. Once, in Singapore, the hotel had two kinds of elevators. The normal kind that went up to the 25th floor and then glass-enclosed kind that you had to take to get from the 25th to the 60th floor. It was a glorious view of the cityscape but when I discovered that the hotel had put me up on the 50th floor (this was considered an upgrade because most folks LIKE the higher floors), I asked them to move me to a different room, preferably on the 3rd or 4th floor. It did at least make me feel better when the front desk staff told me that this is not an uncommon request. Phew!
When I have no other option than to deal with glass elevators, my usual modus operandi is to stand facing the doors (which are rarely glass)… as close to the doors as I can get. If I’m alone, then basically nose-to-door; if there are other folks, I try to keep at least a foot back so they don’t have me carted away in a pretty wrap-a-round sweater. And I can guarantee that I am ALWAYS the first off that elevator. I’d rather ride the escalators at the Mall of America than do glass elevators (which they also have at MOA).
So I really don’t understand why some heights don’t bother me and some heights REALLY bother me. I’m guessing at my age I’ll probably never figure it out.
Would you rather ride in a glass elevator or hold a big snake?
