Whom can we find in a LIFT?

With the real estate boom, the buildings are getting taller and the lifts in these buildings have become some sort of a social networking site. We all spend at least five minutes everyday traveling the lifts.(unless if you are a lift operator- then read eight hours)

Here are the different types of people you will find inside lifts:

The Operator

This is generally a man(why cant this be a woman, I always wondered!!), and the moment he steps inside the lift he has only one question for everybody inside the lift: “Which floor?” He is the type that gets upset if you have already pressed the button. Throughout the journey, he will stand next to the buttons.

The only time when your movement(upward or downward) is controlled by him.Even the character/behavior of the lift operators depends on the building type in which he is employed – society(a bit accommodating),hospital(very stern, cant take first floor),any government building(absolute tyrant),shopping mall(frustrated, mechanical, just like a zombie),Maker Towers in Mumbai(he is the owner of the lift,no way you can get a chance to press a button)

The Roving Eye

Both, a man and a woman can fit this bill. This person runs an eye over everybody in the lift. Once the glance is cast, he or she then starts focusing on individuals and starts marking them eye to toe. There are various parameters on which such people evaluate you – which company you could be working in, single or married, how much you could earning, how much does that shiny shoe cost and some that I don’t want to describe(this is a family blog, guys!!).

The Fixer

This is mostly a man. His main job is to fix his gaze at anybody who enters the lift. A stare back doesn’t discourage this guy. The fact that the stare is going to last only 30+ seconds helps the hapless victim. Mind you, he doesn’t just stare at women, even men also end up being his target. These are mostly men like men( I know you are already nodding in agreement) – going through a midlife crisis and trying to make contact with any life form.

The Perfume Woman
In most office lifts this type is a rarity. How often do you share a lift with a girl, who has poured the whole bottle of perfume on her body? This person is usually wearing heels, dark, tight trousers with light colored shirt, hair let loose on anyone standing behind her and is holding a file or a diary ,branded cooling glasses on her head(that is an accessory,mind you). She steps into the lift with a few clicks of her heels, and sets the adrenalin pumping into the men inside(the men who missed getting into the already crowded lift dont mind taking their chance by running upstairs faster than the lift and waiting for the lift doors to open). If you see a man missing the second floor in spite of pressing the second floor button of the lift…there are very high chances that there is a perfume woman inside the lift.

The back-to-the-door person ( I find this position most interesting)
This can either be a man or a woman . For some odd reason, they stand with their back to the door till they reach their destination floor – opening or closing of the lift doesn’t help in changing their orientation. Someday I am going to ask a back-to-the-door person as why they stand unless they are protecting their backside.

The Evader
This is an interesting character that becomes a part of our lift life very often. They avoid all eye contact when inside the lift. If you notice, they will take out their handkerchief and play with it, then stare at the fan or AC vent on top, then look at the buttons, stare at the floor indicator at the top of the lift etc. They will do anything to avoid eye contact with you – even looking at their own shoes.

The Mobile Maniac

This can both be a man or a woman. For some odd reason, they always get emails when they are in the lift. And when they don’t have emails to read, they would snap out the mobiles from their pockets and send out a few SMSes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are just some sms forwards. Most often, the mobile that’s involved here is a smartphone – a Blackberry, an iPhone, an HTC or a high end Nokia device.

The Controller

This is almost always a man. He takes it upon himself to trigger the lift door’s sensitivity by placing his hand next to the door till everybody isn’t inside completely or hasn’t gone out completely. He is the fatherly figure to every lift traveler. There is no specific age group for this character – they range from 16 year old boys to 50 year old men.

The Panicker(I didn’t get any better word to describe)

This is almost(I am tempted to remove this word “almost”) always a woman. A sudden jerk in the lift,any funny noise ,power cut will kick start shrieks, pandemonium and the whole lift will reverberate with the shouts of “Save Us,the lift is crashing”.Panic sets in and then what – the lift lands safely as ever!!

Any other characters you can think of?

Why are some people LUCKY in life?

We have all been around people who just seem to have that Midas touch.. Whatever they seem to do they just can’t fail (people winning lotteries, housies, promotions..). They always appear to be at the right place at the right time, they have things seemingly fall into place in their lives and they would appear to be happy and successful in life. Then you have the other type of people who no matter their potential they have never been able to rise above their despairing levels. They encounter obstacles and failure at every turn. No matter how well intentioned they are they just can’t seem to get things together and they lack any real success or happiness.

So what do lucky people have that makes them lucky?

This is just an exploratory thought process that has germinated in my mind

According to me – the following may be the relevant things to look for

1)       Are lucky people looking at every opportunity that comes their way as a gateway to success? – For them, every opportunity is a way to look forward and not remain in the past and the present. Creating new opportunities also gives the person a better chance to succeed and thus get LUCKY

2)      Are lucky people always positive? – Negative people are usually close minded and wont take any chance to improve the situation

3)      Are lucky people relaxed in their attitude and thus can see and identify the opportunities and discern compared to other people?

It would seem to appear that lucky people aren’t born lucky, they create it by their own thoughts and deeds. So , if we want to be luckier in life ,we  need to start changing who we are and what we are doing.

There is no harm in changing our current strategy. Lets  go for the new Strategy MAP, boys!!!