The Great DWS Administration North Elevator Malfunction of 2015 ...

For the important things, sometimes you hear about them before you read about them. And so it went last week when all four elevators in our building at work decided to quit working at the same time. "The elevators shut down," we'd hear over cubicle walls. "All of them, or just a couple?"

"All of them."

Thankfully, no one was stuck inside when they broke down.

And so continued the "first-world problems" faced by a bunch of workers in a downtown Salt Lake City office building. Of course, it's easy for me to call this a "first-world problem." Others in my building might not agree. To them it was much more serious.

If you know SLC, you know we're not flush with tall buildings. I think the tallest structure (where the public can go...) is around thirty floors. The building I work in has six, and I work on three. Rarely do I use the elevators so the fact that they weren't working didn't cause me a lot of stress. Some of my co-workers, however, they felt the pain of each of the steps they needed to climb until they could get to work. And I know there are some with disabilities to the point where climbing up and down stairs is not an option. If they can't take an elevator, they can't get to work. I felt bad for them.

Through the day we received several e-mails updating us on the progress (or lack thereof...) technicians were having as they tried fixing the problem. We were notified when one was working (we have four total...), then another one was fixed. Then they all went out again. I'm no elevator maintenance technician so I have no idea what would knock out all the elevators at once. In my mind, I would think it would be like having a fleet of four delivery trucks that all decide on the same day to stop working. Those who know how these miracles of nineteenth century technology work probably know how all four could shut down at once. I apologize for my ignorance.

The Great DWS Administration North Elevator Malfunction of 2015 happened last week. Today, there are still reminders of the calamity. We're down to only three working. I hope one day we can remove the caution tape and be fully liberated at last.