Overheard on the Elevator - 12/2/2008 9:00 a.m.

She:  Would you press 13 for me?
Me:   Sure.
She:  The thing is, I'm not going to speak to him when he's . . . I'm not.
He:    No.
She:   I mean, we can proceed without . . .
He:    That's right . . .
She:   I mean, it's just, you know . . .
He:    There's no reason for you to get involved in his law suit.
She:   The thing is, we have to close out the estate . . .

Here's where I got off.  What's going on?  Divorce? Sibling rivalry?

-- sdh

Comments

[jsc]

Can't help asking -- was there really a 13th floor?

[Stacey (sdh)]

Yes. Isn't that strange? I hadn't noticed until she asked me to press it.

[shanna]

i work on a 13th floor. i think lots of bldgs in nyc don't observe this superstition. most hotels seem to though.

[Laura Orem]

Maybe they weren't really there at all -- maybe you just caught the paranormal energy of a long-ago conversation and if you go on the elevator tomorrow, there will be no 13th floor button to push...

Or maybe not.

[DL]

I once began a poem: "City of elevators without a thirteenth floor." Many Upper West Side buildings lack a thirteenth floor, which means that if you live on the 14th, as I did for several years, it's really the 13th in disguise, and strange things did happen when I lived there. But maybe that had as much to do with the place and the time as the floor. In any case, triskedekaphobia will always be a word I cherish.