Life from Inside the Elevator

This week is our family vacation. We are staying on the third floor of a condo complex in Emerald Isle, NC. Thank goodness there’s an elevator for us to take when we want or need to. Normally, we only use it in bad weather, when it’s dark out, or to bring luggage in and out. It can be very handy.

I feel I ought to get some things out of the way first for all my COVID-19 following brothers and sisters out there (love you, mean it). I can understand why your mind may move the direction of COVID first. Mine would, especially if someone started talking about getting into elevators.

So, I want to cover the subject as much as possible, upfront. Yes, we are social distancing the best we can, and never ride in the elevator with another person. We are also wearing masks at all indoor locations, and washing our hands like a thousand times per day. On top of that, we use gel and wipes every time we touch anything “public”. In fact, since I am immune deficient, I also stuff my nose and other key orfices with antibacterial gel every morning... just kidding.

Fynn takes the lead again

Most of the people that know me or read my blogs know I have a service dog named Fynn. The little guy has kept me moving forward ever since experiencing my ten collapsed vertebrae and four spine operations.

He has taken the lead when it comes to walking, and will even make me go the “extra mile” when being taken out to relieve himself.

Elevators: A creative experience

To say the least, I’ve spent a lot of time in the elevator this week taking care of my buddy. Being in an elevator has always been a curious experience. For me in particular, it has always been a “creative” experience.

I hate to admit that in my younger days, especially traveling in Asia with my wife I did something that was possibly creative, but adolescently so. I’d pass gas, and when I saw people’s uncomfortable looks, I’d look at my wife and say “Sue?!” Occasionally, I’d get a good laugh.

I also came up with an idea years ago (again traveling in Asia) to advertise on elevator doors like they were signs on a highway. Everyone in an elevator either stares at the floor numbers dinging off, or at the door. Why not capture that attention by putting up an advertisement? I got laughed out of the house when I told my kids about the idea. Within a year I started seeing advertisements on elevator doors. Now it’s getting rarer not to see an advertisement. Sometimes I wonder if one of my kids opened up a secret business and stole my idea.

Elevators through a dog’s eyes

I’m not sure why my imagination kicks in on elevators, but the other day while riding with Fynn I started wondering what his experience was when riding in one. When he gets in, his world is a condo, carpet, food, sleep, and his blanket. When he gets off, his world is concrete, bushes, doggie dunes, walks, beach, waves, and wind.

Does he know what is going on? Is this one world with two different places connected by an elevator door or is it two different worlds? Is the elevator a magic cube that takes him to different worlds? I can’t tell.

At first, Fynn was uncomfortable with elevators. When the door opened, you could see his trepidation. With time he started getting more comfortable, recognizing, and connecting with each new or past environment. In every case though, a new discovery process began, starting with his nose. He took nothing for granted, but instead, he tried to discover something new and exciting.

Our lives as an elevator ride

This got me wondering if we are all dogs on an elevator to some extent? Our world is changing at warp speed these days.

When I look back at my experiences, it seems that when I was well, the elevator door would open into the same world each day, give or take. There was the familiarity and pattern. I guess I would now say this was a form of me taking my world for granted.

Then I got multiple myeloma and all of a sudden the door opened to one of Dante’s circles of hell. No familiarity at all. For many months after that, the door was opening into a new circle daily. The only familiarity I had in each new world was pain and nausea.

Eventually, life normalized a little, and I started recognizing these new places less as hell and more as life in a different form. The opening of the elevator door each day became a little less stressful and daunting.

Keep sniffing

Don’t get me wrong. I still hold my breath when my daily door starts opening, which is more common when I am waiting for test results. I take nothing for granted.

Now, COVID-19 has hit us all. It has affected everyone to some extent. Each day when we take that ride down the elevator, will we be familiar with the world the door opens up to; or will it be a new place all over again. Will it be a better reality, or worse?

In any case, be like Fynn. Don’t take anything for granted and sniff your way through it and discover something new or exciting.

Editor’s note: This article was published on July 20, 2020. Further developments in what we know about COVID-19 are continuously emerging.