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2.08.2011

a love song for elevators everywhere



today i am grateful for the elevator in my building. 

while it was really exciting the other day to discover that i could lift my 30 pound stroller plus my 15 pound baby up an entire flight of stairs, it was even more exciting when i remembered afterward that i wouldn't ever have to do it again.

dear tiny little elevator in my building: i love you. thank you for always cheering up the hucklebaby when he is fussypants by dazzling him with your sparkly fluorescent lighting and your beeping on every floor. thank you for always smelling like other exciting dogs, so my puppies can gleefully sniff your every corner. thank you for being you. thank you! thank your! 

(p.s. the story goes that a woman here in the city named her son otis, after an elevator she knew and loved. what would you think of me if i told you that woman was almost me? it's ok, my mom talked me out of it.)

21 comments:

  1. I would also like to thank the elevator in my school. Thank you for helping me find the sub-basement when the stairs refused to m'aider.

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  2. Ha! That's funny. My husband wants to name our next son Otto. It's a family name that I'm fighting with him on.

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  3. i'm seriously dying over your baby's face in that picture!!! so stinking cute.

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  4. We should compose a love song to Mr. Elisha Otis, who invented a very important something/thingy that made "hoisting machines" (aka elevators)safer. That's all i remember from a visit, long ago, to the Smithsonian where i saw Otis's original, wooden hoister.

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  5. Give your elevator a lil bit of extra lovin', as I don't have one of my own to thank :(

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  6. all the elevators at my school need to go meet yours and learn how to be lovable, because they all take forever to come, shake scarily like they're going to plummet to your death once your in them, and people getting stuck in the elevator for hours is not an uncommon occurrence. i know people who will not get in an elevator in my school library without snacks and a pack of cards, because you just know you'll be in it for a while. whenever possible (read: when i'm in a rush/not lazy) i take the stairs.

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  7. I love that the elevator cheers Huck up! Do you ever think of the scene in You've Got Mail when they're stuck in the elevator and Joe realizes what a pill Patricia is? Maybe that's not a good thing to think of in the elevator, might be bad luck (but funny!).

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  8. Ha! Our building elevator smells like the 1960s, which is approximately when it was installed -- it doesn't even have those nifty/safety sliding doors, but a regular, knobless pushdoor like in a public bathroom. At least it's a good impetus to take the stairs?

    And it's long past time for me to tell you how much I love, love Huck's trapper hat.

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  9. i've never lived in an elevator blg myself but i bet it is nice! lugging groceries up 5 flights is a challenge, but i kinda like it...crazy me! Also i know that once you are in an elevator blg its hard to ever go back!

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  10. We're doing ok without an elevator right now, except for the rare occasions where we take the granny cart out. I imagine that is similar to trying to wield a stroller on stairs. Which is to say, traumatic.
    But it does feel oddly luxurious to get on an elevator now!

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  11. What a magical elevator you have! I wonder if it perhaps has Willy Wonka capabilities that it isn't telling you about. Worth investigating.

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  12. I'm glad you got a job. My husband is a lawyer too and I remember when we got our first job. It was beyond exciting.

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  13. have you heard the song 'elevator love letter' by the band Stars?

    I bet you would love it.

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  14. may my dearly departed elevator rest in peace. heaven knows i did love him! :)

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  15. When they visited in January, my parents and I went to the mall with Katie and Kenny, and we all jammed into the elevator to go get some food. Well, the Taylors + the Baldwins + the Muirs +a double stroller JAMMED THE ELEVATOR (and can I say now how claustrophobic I am?!). We had to wrench the doors open and climb out--the elevator was an alarming four inches from where it should have been. The two teenage girls waiting to ride it down took one look and headed for the stairs.

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  16. I would like to thank the elevator at the pediatrician's office for making visits with my 3 year old a bit more pleasant.

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  17. Look at that huckleberry smile!!!

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  18. Found your blog from your article on blogher. I love your writing style and your blog. Thanks for sharing your LOVE for your elevator!! ;)
    xo

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  19. Funny story: the elevators at my Christian college all had a button marked L for Lobby. One day, a group of my friends started down from the ninth floor when one guy noticed which button had been pushed. He shouted out in a panicked English accent, "AAHHH! We're all goin' to 'ell!" Everyone cracked up.

    To this day, I cannot ride in an elevator without thinking of that story, and I even playfully shouted the phrase in the library elevator this week with my two and four year old.

    They didn't get it.

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  20. I just found your blog, and I have to say: I love your pictures! They are artsy but also cute! Looks like you have a very sweet family!

    http://lovedredays.blogspot.com/

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