Elevator Story

Andrew Noerr

Feature Writing

23 January 2014

                                                Zone of Distraction

            Yesterday afternoon, I rode up and down the elevator in Cowell Hall for 30 minutes. I noticed several physical details concerning the numerous passengers of the elevator along with details about myself as well. Some of these details are more important than others, and the most significant physical detail that stuck in my mind was the difference between how younger passengers and older passengers rode the elevator. The young college students mostly peered into their cell phones and did not pay attention to anything else surrounding them. Older passengers meanwhile either looked down into the ground or up at the ceiling, as they were much more attentive to their surroundings.

Therefore, my elevator journey revealed to me that younger people are much more distractible and are not aware of their surroundings. I admit that I had many urges to check my cell phone during the journey too. Older passengers acted much more nervous, as they looked around the inside of the elevator more often and looked at the numbers of the approaching floors when they appeared on the screen. However, this told me that they are more attentive to the things around them and are not as easily distracted by modern technology. Perhaps they were reflecting during their ride. An elevator ride is a zone of distraction for younger passengers, but older passengers seem to use it as a zone of reflection instead.