Member-only story
Life Sometimes Involves an Uphill Climb
Might as well enjoy it
I learned that the elevators were all out when I arrived at work this morning. This was not good. A large crowd was gathering in the lobby, and the numbers were sure to increase.
Here is the part where I mention I work several floors above the ground level. Due to my lack of Spiderman skills, getting to work involves either the elevator or the stairs. I’m in decent enough shape, but taking the stairs is not my first pick.
As I stood on the ground level and internally debated how to proceed, I overheard someone mention that the elevators had already been out for twenty minutes. Okay, I knew at that moment that I had to bite the bullet and try climbing the stairs.
While making my way to the emergency stairwell, I was joined by a stranger. As we wound up the stairs, we introduced ourselves and made small talk. Around floor two or three, she said that she probably shouldn’t be walking up the stairs as she had a torn ligament.
Oh??
I asked her how she tore her ligament, if it wasn’t too personal.
She responded, “Well, it was by climbing upstairs.”
Oh man, I cracked up laughing. She did too. This was a problem for both of us as we were winded already.
A few more floors later, she reached her floor and departed. I went up to my level and emerged out of breath but in decent enough spirits.
So to that woman, thank you for making that uphill climb much easier. I hope we do it again sometime (but not too soon because those stairs are ridiculous.)