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Pay Up Or Wash Up

Why do lifts alway seem to have mirrored walls? Is it to stop you thinking about being locked in a small metal box dangling from a cable which could at any moment snap and send you hurtling to your squashy oblivion?

Whenever they were travelling in the lift/elevator in Mad Men, it seemed that everyone would be standing up straight with their shoulders back, facing the door.
In my experience people tend to gravitate towards the four corners, with at least one maverick soul facing backwards. Me? I'm always gazing upwards at the grille on the roof. That's where you get out when there's a disaster.
 
davidplankton said:
Why do lifts alway seem to have mirrored walls? Is it to stop you thinking about being locked in a small metal box dangling from a cable which could at any moment snap and send you hurtling to your squashy oblivion? ...
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Yes - at least originally ... One of the reasons claimed (long ago ... ) for mirrored elevator walls was to give a visual impression of wider space so as to counteract feelings of claustrophobia.

I've seen the same anti-claustrophobia rationale cited for those glass-cage-overlooking-the-atrium style elevators that were all the rage decades ago.
 
Just remembered. The 'Automobile Engineer' was in my second black passport. The first, when I joined the Army in '65, had 'Government Business' in that slot.

GNC,

..I imagine some would be tempted to put "terrorist" these days, for a laugh...

Never, but never, try to get a laugh at the expense of Customs and Immigration. They have no sense of humour.

You will spend a long time talking to people who don't smile. And your home will possible be turned over.

It WILL be recorded on your files.

INT21
 
EnolaGaia said:
Yes - at least originally ... One of the reasons claimed (long ago ... ) for mirrored elevator walls was to give a visual impression of wider space so as to counteract feelings of claustrophobia.

I've seen the same anti-claustrophobia rationale cited for those glass-cage-overlooking-the-atrium style elevators that were all the rage decades ago.
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And come to think of it, mirrors in lifts usually seem to be dimmed. Or maybe it's the lighting. Anyway, you always look better in a lift mirror than in your bathroom at home, so probably another calming effect.

I don't have a problem with getting trapped in a lift alone or with someone I know, it's the thought of spending a prolonged amount of time trapped with several strangers, any one of whom might flip out at any moment.
 
davidplankton said:
I don't have a problem with getting trapped in a lift alone or with someone I know, it's the thought of spending a prolonged amount of time trapped with several strangers, any one of whom might flip out at any moment.
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Or be a powerful source of social change...

Conformity in a lift care of Candid Camera. :rofl:
 
davidplankton said:
Why do lifts alway seem to have mirrored walls? Is it to stop you thinking about being locked in a small metal box dangling from a cable which could at any moment snap and send you hurtling to your squashy oblivion?
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It's not as bad as you fear. If the cable parts, this automatically operates brakes which bear on the sides of the lift shaft.

Cable-borne elevators
Statistically speaking, cable-borne elevators are extremely safe. Their safety record is unsurpassed by any other vehicle system. In 1998, it was estimated that approximately eight millionths of one percent (1 in 12 million) of elevator rides result in an anomaly, and the vast majority of these were minor things such as the doors failing to open
....

While it is possible (though extraordinarily unlikely) for an elevator's cable to snap, all elevators in the modern era have been fitted with several safety devices which prevent the elevator from simply free-falling and crashing. An elevator cab is typically borne by 2 to 6 (up to 12 or more in high rise installations) hoist cables or belts, each of which is capable on its own of supporting the full load of the elevator plus twenty-five percent more weight. In addition, there is a device which detects whether the elevator is descending faster than its maximum designed speed; if this happens, the device causes copper (or silicon nitride in high rise installations) brake shoes to clamp down along the vertical rails in the shaft, stopping the elevator quickly, but not so abruptly as to cause injury. This device is called the governor, and was invented by Elisha Graves Otis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator#Cable-borne_elevators

There are other types of lifts/elevators - see root article for details.
 
I can vouch for this happening at least once in British history. Back in the late 70s or early 80s I was in the Scouts, and we went on a day trip from our camp site to a nearby town on the coast. We lost track of one of the older boys as we were wandering around the town, and eventually found him up to his elbows in the sink at one of the cafes, where he'd traded a bit of washing up for a fish and chip dinner... which was probably a damn good idea after a few days of Scout camp food!

As someone mentioned earlier, Elfin Safety would probably ban such things these days.

Edit: That said, he didn't eat the food and tell them he couldn't pay, he asked them beforehand. So perhaps it doesn't quite count on a technicality.
 
graylien said:
I've never heard music in a lift. If I ever get in lift and it starts playing Girl from Ipanema, I'm getting straight out again. No good can come from that.
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But you'll get to meet Steven Spielberg!
 
I've never heard music in a lift. Although some older lifts(Evans Express, O&K, Bennie etc) have very musical motors. A lot of lifts in low-rise buildings are hydraulic lifts, which have a hydraulic ram beneath the car and they are extremely safe. If there was a fault, or a hydraulic oil leak, the car would sink to the bottom of the shaft veeeeeeeery sloooooooooooowly. Traction lifts(cables-motor/sheave-counterweight) have strong steel cables. Each of which can support the load of a fully-freighted car. Although some recent lifts have used kevlar ropes. That's my limited knowledge of slide-boxes!
PS. Modern lifts have no way of leaving the car via a roof hatch. Older lifts have hatches for engineers to access the car from the outside only. If you were unlucky enough to get onto the roof of a lift car, either the fall to the crash buffers in the 'pit' would kill you, or the counterweight would get you.

The variant of washing dishes is 'dine and dash'. Which is the art of bailing for the exit and running like hell if you come up short after you've been given the bill.
 
heisenbear said:
The variant of washing dishes is 'dine and dash'. Which is the art of bailing for the exit and running like hell if you come up short after you've been given the bill.
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Saw this done at a £5.99 carvery pub once, table next to ours piled their plates so high that tatties were rolling off, polished off the lot and then simply got up and left.

Waiter chap comes over and asked what happened to them, we shrugged, he then glared at us as he cleared their plates. Not too sure what he expected, I wasn't about to tackle them and make a citizen's arrest, for all I knew they were just having a cigarette break between courses.
 
Heckler20 said:
Saw this done at a £5.99 carvery pub once, table next to ours piled their plates so high that tatties were rolling off, polished off the lot and then simply got up and left.

Waiter chap comes over and asked what happened to them, we shrugged, he then glared at us as he cleared their plates. Not too sure what he expected, I wasn't about to tackle them and make a citizen's arrest, for all I knew they were just having a cigarette break between courses.
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Fair play to them for piling their plates high but the theft part .. Why the hell is that your duty !? ..

At a restaurant I used to manage one night, a couple left still owing £7 ... I told the owner's sister who then demanded "one of us" went looking for him in the small town. This guy was a 6ft + tall Glaswegian built like a brick shit house and angry so I mentioned it casually to my junior manager with the advice to be careful, just go around the corner and have a deserved cigarette break then return and say you couldn't find him :);) ... that same kid is the manager at that restaurant now :cool:
 
OneWingedBird said:
Or alternatively:

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I saw Sellers on TV explaining how difficult that scene was to film. There needed to be a signal for when the fart occurred so everyone could react, but whatever signal was used just set everyone off laughing. They tried saying 'Go!', ringing a bell, clapping, I dunno, nothing worked.


Here it is.

Can't remember how it was resolved but it obviously was. ;)
 
There used to be a Wimpy in King's Lynn that gave you a bill with your burgers then trusted you to pay it after you'd eaten them.

Since they had tables outside to the side of the store it was far too easy to walk off without paying.

Surprisingly they still seem to be in business. I expect they must take payment when you order now, though. Maybe I'll go back and see.
 
Heckler20 said:
Saw this done at a £5.99 carvery pub once, table next to ours piled their plates so high that tatties were rolling off, polished off the lot and then simply got up and left.

Waiter chap comes over and asked what happened to them, we shrugged, he then glared at us as he cleared their plates. Not too sure what he expected, I wasn't about to tackle them and make a citizen's arrest, for all I knew they were just having a cigarette break between courses.
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Saw it happen in a Pizza Express in Soho - a couple had as much of a blow out as it's possible to have in Pizza Express - 3 courses, wine, liqueurs etc - then one went for a cigarette and a few minutes later the other pretended to be taking a call. Once both were outside they legged it.

It occurred to me that it must have been a really stressful meal if they were planning on doing this the whole time.
 
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That's a good point, they'd need to shoplift a packet of Rennies too.
 
I’m actually guilty of this, though not for the want of trying to pay.

This was also a pizza establishment, though this was of the Hut variety in Manchester city centre.

It was a mid-week eve, close to Christmas. I should have been clued in when we first got there that things might go awry; we were greeted by the hostess who proceeded to tell us there were no cold drinks or most of the starters available.

Anyway, cut to the end of the meal, and I want to pay so I can get my train.
Normally they’d come to your table, but there were no staff about, so I went and stood at the till trying to see if I could see anyone in the back, but no staff were to be seen. I should point out that we were far from the only people in the restaurant.

Anyhoo, after 5 mins of just standing there we just walked, half expecting someone to dash up behind us, but no, nothing.
 
BaronHardacre said:
I’m actually guilty of this, though not for the want of trying to pay.

This was also a pizza establishment, though this was of the Hut variety in Manchester city centre.

It was a mid-week eve, close to Christmas. I should have been clued in when we first got there that things might go awry; we were greeted by the hostess who proceeded to tell us there were no cold drinks or most of the starters available.

Anyway, cut to the end of the meal, and I want to pay so I can get my train.
Normally they’d come to your table, but there were no staff about, so I went and stood at the till trying to see if I could see anyone in the back, but no staff were to be seen. I should point out that we were far from the only people in the restaurant.

Anyhoo, after 5 mins of just standing there we just walked, half expecting someone to dash up behind us, but no, nothing.
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Similar happened to my parents in a hotel when they were on honeymoon.
They were up early and went to the front desk to check out and pay the bill.
They couldn't find anyone to pay so in the end they just left!
 
Illegal..... but then why should under staffing of public eateries become a customer's problem when they are genuinely trying to pay a bill ? .. that or staff that don't seem to give a ****
 
It's not illegal - it's a civil debt.

Unless the establishment can prove that you never intended to pay in the first place. Then it becomes fraud.
 
A couple of decades ago I was with a friend in Amsterdam and we ate at an 'all you can eat' bar called Mr Coco's. Because it was straight off the street and after a couple of beers we left without paying, it was a total accident. After half a mile I remembered that we hadn't paid, so I took my mates share of the bill and went back to pay it. The owner could not believe that I had gone back to pay it as I would in all likelihood never be back there again. He gave me a free beer he was so grateful and said that I had restored his faith in humanity.
 
Spudrick68 said:
A couple of decades ago I was with a friend in Amsterdam and we ate at an 'all you can eat' bar called Mr Coco's. Because it was straight off the street and after a couple of beers we left without paying, it was a total accident. After half a mile I remembered that we hadn't paid, so I took my mates share of the bill and went back to pay it. The owner could not believe that I had gone back to pay it as I would in all likelihood never be back there again. He gave me a free beer he was so grateful and said that I had restored his faith in humanity.
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A few weeks ago I was in a shop in Holyhead on Anglesey buying fruit. It came to £3 so I offered a £5 note, and was given change from £10. I told her I'd given her only £5 but she insisted that she didn't get things wrong and handed over £7.

Next time I was up there I considered walking in smugly waving another £5 note. :D
 
The lady who runs the canteen at work does this too.
She's crap at maths, and even gets it wrong after using a calculator or the till.
I keep having to give her a pound back.
Surprised she is still in business.
 
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