Escalators

Moonbeam

Any one else out there have an insane fear of escalators? and any idea why?

Kali

nope. although i did refuse to get on one when i was 7 in the london underground (they can be pretty skinny, steep and long there)... err so avoid there

Moonbeam

The london underground is my worst nightmare its bad enough its underground but not been able to get out of stations and as a result all plans for day been ruined, and not all stations have wheelchair access ie lifts

GuanYin

I have no problem going up them but I have an irrational fear of going down them.

I got my lace caught and fell down one when I was about 6 whichmay explain it.

Still, I share you pain. Is tehre a support group (you know if you check the web I bet there is)

query

I hate that sign 'Dogs must be carried' at the start of escalators. I mean often I forget to bring a dog with me, and it's such a pain having to take the stairs instead. But much healthily.

Seriously, I hate the escalators at Brussels airport - they only start when you step on them, a fact which I only discovered recently having laboured under the misapprehension that they were broken for some time.

But what I really hate are travelators. Standing is so boring, and walking causes overtaking incidents. And I caught my heel in one in Heathrow last week and had to be rescued by a passing airport attendant - just before I reached the end of the travelator!

sunbeam

I also hate them, especially when I'm overloaded with shopping.

Am always afraid I'll miss my step and go tumbling down. At least stairs stand still, though I also used to be afraid of those having fallen down some as a kid. Spent years counting back from twenty when descending them-seemed to help for some reason

I especially detest those people who feel the need to walk/run up/down escalators, shoving others out of their way in the process...

KoNiT

Ever notice the people walking beside the travelator are going hell for leather trying to overtake you?!!

Personally I don't mind either but I'm more aware of the dangers after watching a prog. on telly where one fellow nearly choked to death after getting trapped in one.

Winters

Originally posted by Moonbeam
The london underground is my worst nightmare.

In Antwerp there is this underground tunnell under the river connecting each side. There is no bridge for about 20min walk each way. Went down and through it. Its about a 20min walk across. Its a good bit below ground level so you have to take two long escalators to get there. All the escalators are about 50 years old, wooden and also very noisy. You can hear them all through the tunnel execpt for the 100meters in the middle where it is totally silent execpt for cyclists ringing their bells. [ Yes you get bikes down there too]

I have to admit I didnt like going down them the first time but meh, yit didnt really bother me. The noise is freeky though I have to say. Its this really loud mechinacal rumbleing noise.

I ope I didnt scare you

melancolique

I once saw a pink panther cartoon where pink panther got caught in the escalator and came out flat at the other end.

Since then I've always tried to use the stairs wherever possible

secret_squirrel

I love escalators and travelators, if you stand just right you can drag the sole of your runner against the non-moving glass bit, if you get it right you get a screeching sound not unlike chalk on a blackboard. Then you can watch everyone else cringe. Its great!

Divine

oh yeah id much rather walk the fifty thousand steps beside the escalutor instead of just standing there while technology does the work for you...oh yeah but so many people die on them, jeez i forget about that they are awful, worst thing ever invented im sure.....pig brains!!!

Raz

Originally posted by sunbeam
I especially detest those people who feel the need to walk/run up/down escalators, shoving others out of their way in the process...

Heh, that's funny. I hate the way some folk just stand there and wait for the things to take them to the end. Especially if they are in a group and you can't get by and you're in a hurry. Really bugs me. They made to shorten the travel time and to make it less effort. I think it's the height of lazyness to just stand on them (unless you're injured of course).

Apart from that petty gripe I have no real problem with the things (though my girlfriend doesn't like them!)

Lump

Originally posted by KoNiT
Ever notice the people walking beside the travelator are going hell for leather trying to overtake you?!!

Personally I don't mind either but I'm more aware of the dangers after watching a prog. on telly where one fellow nearly choked to death after getting trapped in one.

TO be honest a child crawling...... or a man or woman crawling could pass out the ones in Dublin airport. I hate using them as people block up the whole width of them meaning no-one can pass them out. People that are in a rush tend to walk on them..... faster ***.



John

Kenshin

In Tokyo people ALWAYS stood on the left when stading on an escalator, and then people that want to walk up/down them could do so on the right without a problem. I guess this wouldn't really work out in Ireland, but maybe we could try starting an "always-stand-on-the-left" initiative...

sunbeam

Good idea and maybe make wider escalators so it's possible to easily walk past without the risk of sending someone or something flying.

I know they are not all narrow, but a lot are...

DapperGent

Everyone stands on the left when going up escalators in Germany too. I think it's something to do with the hive mind.

commuterised

in school we were told we had to walk on the left, this was good preparation for driving!!

MoosemaN

The consensus in Europe is that you stand on the right hand side of the Escalator.

Lump

Hmmm in London they all tend to stand on the left too.



John

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by Lump
Hmmm in London they all tend to stand on the left too.



John

I was sure it was the right!? Memory's buggered.

MoosemaN

Dr. Loon I think you are correct, it is the right hand side

"Escalators in the London Underground used to have wooden steps, but this was changed after the Kings Cross fire at Kings Cross St Pancras tube station in 1987. Escalators now have metal steps in a continuous loop that move on tracks. Escalators are typically used in pairs with one going up and the other going down. Some modern escalators in stores and shopping malls have glass sides which allow their workings to be viewed. Although most escalators are straight some shopping malls use curved versions.

When using escalators passengers who wish to stand and let themselves be carried up or down should stand on one side to allow more impatient users to walk past them. However, which side varies from place to place. On the London Underground, for instance, standees are asked to keep to the right. "

Yes in London on the underground, it is on the right that you stand and you will be told off, if you block them up.

Used to hate escalators when I was little.
Now that I think about it,I still look down at the bit where they slide under the floor before I get off to be honest,(must stem from back then) but it doesn't worry me.
It's not a life hampering condition...

wouldn't have noticed that I do that untill I read this thread:o

mm

LegacyUser

yea, used to do when i was little, don't anymore, don't step off them these days, just let the things push me off at the end, kinda cool, give it a go

Mick L

The only thing I find annoying about escalators and travellators is people who get off at the end and just stand there looking around as if they have all the time in the world completely ignoring the fact that there is a stream of people behind them who, even if standing still, are still going to be propelled into the back of them. (The same thing seems to happen getting off buses).

At for the standing on one side, great idea. I first encoutered it in Germany where there were signs as you got onto the escalators. No confusion and no hassle. And everyone there walked away from the bottleneck at the end of the escalator before stopping to look around.

Seeker

I get motion sickness every time I use an escalator.

growler

forgetting to stand on the right on the London underground ones is an open invitation to get hit in the back of the head by the first briefcase in a rush , and rightly so.

Standing at the bottom just off the steps should be a punishable offence , i mean you've had minutes to think about what to do when you get to the bottom it shouldn't come as a big surprise when you get there !!

growler

oh , and i don't get standing on a travelator at all , WALK you lazy B%*£*%£*ds thats what them legs are for !

Matfinn

Anyone here ever been on the Prague metro? I was there this summer and there was this one station that had escallators that went down about 150 ft side by side ( I think it was Jihro Z Poderbrad ). There was this smooth slide inbetween the 2 escallators that me and my mates used to slide down when we were locked. I cant imagine how we are alive now but it was great fun all the same.

Matt

Capt'n Midnight

Guess it's probably just Kinesobathmophobia or Climacokinetophobia...

Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes
Climacophobia- Fear of stairs, climbing, or of falling downstairs.
Kinetophobia or Kinesophobia- Fear of movement or motion.

sceptre

Originally posted by Kenshin
In Tokyo people ALWAYS stood on the left when stading on an escalator

Same system everywhere else in Japan. Except in Osaka where they stand on the right and follow the London System™. No idea why the people in Osaka feel they have to be different, perhaps they tend towards rebellion and it is Japan after all:D

oneweb

Best thing about elevators in other countries is that ppl will stand at one side to allow others to pass. Also, many are automatically started by pressure mats which is cool (both previously mentioned)

I love running down them, especially the ones that make a really loud *THUD* on each step However, I still get the very infrequent odd panic when I think the back of my feet are gonna get lifted by the step behind the one I'm on when I start to go down on one.

Lump

OK OK, I was wrong...... jeeze give me a break ffs... IN LONDON THEY STAND ON ONE SIDE WHILE PEOPLE WALKING CAN PASS ON THE ADJACENT SIDE TO THE SIDE THAT THE PEOPLES ARE STANDING ON.


Happy?!


John

Moonbeam

was in prague too but luckily didn't see that:)
I am guessing from the replies that being terrified of escalators is as absurd as I previously thought so,

Kalina

I got my bootlace caught in an escalator the other day, it tore the end of it clean off after I spent about a minute trying to free myself. I looked like some idiot, I wouldn't mind but they were nice laces!!

Pepe LeFrits

In Toronto they have signs saying "Stand Right Walk Left" on escalators. And you people with fears of escalators scare me.

Lennoxschips

oneweb

Oh - my - gawd. Has anone seen the escalators at the Parnell Street end of Penny's (the new bit)? There's about 8 steps up to street level. And there's fookin micro elevators on either side :rolleyes: They look completely ridiculous, yet so many ppl used them!!!

firebird

The other scary thing about the metros in Prague (and Budapest) is that the black hand-y bit on the side goes at a different speed (faster going up, slower going down) than the escalator! So if you keep your hand steady on it, you risk falling face first up the escalator, or backwards in arm-breaking fashing down the escalator! Plus, they're really super steep...! =(
And yeps, the escalator you can slide down is the place you named - did you see the weird tower, just near there, with the babies crawling up it?! Ewww!

crowbar

what scares me a bit are fast escalators. in asia they seem to move at twice the speed as the ones in europe. you step on and suddenly you're experiencing a few g's of acceleration.

the longest and steepest one i've seen is in a metro station in hong kong, causeway bay i think. i'm not that bad with heights but this one freaked me out at first, it was one continuous escalator that went a good four or five storeys down, and you couldn't see the end of it from the top. it was also one of the faster ones, and the hand-y bit dragged you forward so you couldn't really hold onto it for dear life.

Roller Toaster

Yes yes yes! I really can't stand escalators, especially going down them. I've always had problems with them and will go out of my way to use the stairs wherever possible. My personal worst experience of them is in the Trocardaro Centre in England where we went on a school tour. 13 stories up and a view all the way to the ground below, a stupidly fast escaltor and a fear of heights don't combine well. I was shaking by the time I managed to get out of that place, damn the group I was with for wanting to go to the very top and me for being stupid enough to go with them. I would have taken the stairs but there didn't seem to be any which surely breaks some sort of law?

PrecariousNuts

If you are afraid of escalators you will never want to go skiing...

Look at an example here

Now these things sway A LOT. Talk about scary if you had a fear of heights. Taken in Chamonix if anybody wanted to know.

shinzon

never posted in this personal issues forum before, but this escalator problem was to close to the knuckle for me not to

Yes i have a fear of escalators, but only the ones that go down the way, not up.

The few times ive been upto Dublin especially when the Virgin megastore was open i always went into a cold sweat when i bought something upstairs and i knew the only way to get down was to go down on the escalator, i think it was just the way that it went out a bit first before it went down, youd think you were falling.

Id avoid the Stephens green centre altogether lol

But as i said its going down is the problem

Shin

Roller Toaster

I'd forgotten about the ones in Virgin Megastore, I'm glad the place closed down considiring every time I was in town with someone we'd end up in there at the very top. The problem with them was that the flat bit before it went down wasn't long enough so you barely had time to get your footing before you were headed straight down. I think the ones in Easons on O'Connell Street are too damned fast also.

shinzon

Originally posted by Roller Toaster
The problem with them was that the flat bit before it went down wasn't long enough so you barely had time to get your footing before you were headed straight down

Exactly scared the crap outta me every time

Shin

sceptre

Originally posted by Roller Toaster
I would have taken the stairs but there didn't seem to be any which surely breaks some sort of law?

There's a stairs at the front of the building AFAIK. You don't get to use it unless you're on fire though. I believe there's another one at the back on the HMV/cinema side.

Originally posted by shinzon
Id avoid the Stephens green centre altogether lol

You can go up and down Stephens Green without using the escalators. They don't seem to like having convenient stairs, though they are there.

Moonbeam

there was a staris at the back of virgin megastores:)
The stephens green centre has lifts and the back stairs:)
Jervis is the worst the horrible stairs,see thru lift or escalators, the lift isnt too bad really but theres always a q for it,
have to use the nice safe lookin lifts in Debenhams
Its sooo ridiculous(me not the lifts!!)

query

Has anyone been on the wooden escalators in Macys?

bug

I have a horrible fear of escalators I always associate them with getting beaten. I switched all the escalators off in Roches stores when I was little and got the worst hiding ever.
But I'd have to agree I have horrible vertigo and the only way I can get down the escalator in Stephens green is to stare at the roof until I get to the end.

fizzy

i used to be terrified of going down escalators - even used to go in lifts to avoid them even though i hate them too and (as it was pointed out to me on several occasions while in a lift!) they are more dangerous

ucd library was a bigger nightmare for me than most cos there are no stairs above the 2nd floor only escalators and my books were up on the top floor - bloody typical!!

i've got over it now but won't go near lifts anymore...

anyway, i still know where all the stairs are from when i was afraid... in stephen's green, there are stairs to the right soon after you go in, right past the lift...
and also in stephens green there is a hidden stairs in dunnes down to the grocery in the middle of the far side wall of the ladies dept if i remember correctly...
i think brown thomas suffers from a lack of stairs for the top floor too (where their fancy audio place is)? but a security guard on seeing my petrified face showed me a back trades way....

for health n safety there probably has to be a stairs somewhere, so there generally is a way round it if you are willing to look a total idiot

whosurpaddy

Originally posted by sykeirl
Is tehre a support group (you know if you check the web I bet there is)

how would that work? is it like hey frank, im alone an im stressed an i really feel like goin out an gettin on an escalator.

honest to god im not an escalator addict.................(wait for it)...........i can stop any time [badum bum tish]

LegacyUser

Originally posted by query
Seriously, I hate the escalators at Brussels airport - they only start when you step on them, a fact which I only discovered recently having laboured under the misapprehension that they were broken for some time.

Presumably you would prefer to use Dublin airport where the escalators are needlessly running 24h per day throwing tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere?

Yet another example of Ireland's third world infrastructure! People like U and Aer Rianta.


eco-w