Betrayed by machines?

… it wasn’t the most fun but part of it was hilarious, I’m not gonna lie.

So, I go to visit a friend one afternoon who lives on the 9th floor of a ten storey building.. I ain't the laziest bug on the planet but there aren't too many reasons to convince me to take the stairs for that height, particularly when a lift is available.

Source: http://kellebelle.files.wordpress.com

It's an old building and the lift isn’t the most reliable one by its looks. Now, it might sound a little unnecessary to mention that the building has no basement or underground parking or anything, but you'll see. I enter the lift at the ground floor and so does a Chinese guy who by the way is also a visitor there, just like me,, and hes going to the same floor as me. Coincidence. Anyway, the door shuts and the lift starts to go down. wait a sec.. there is no down!!! Ironic isn't it. Well, it takes us like a foot and a half down and then stops. So we are stuck in the lift which I must say is not sufficiently ventilated.

Perplexed, we look at each other, and then look around for some alarm button or something for use in emergency. By the by, was it an emergency,, the lift taking us downstairs when there is no downstairs? Anyhow, I come across a 24-hour help line for emergency cases which I immediately dial.

"Hello" they lady at the other end says in a hard-to-understand Chinese accent.

"uh..Hi, is this the XYZ lift company" I say.

"Yes"

"Oh, ok, I am stuck in a lift operated by your company"

"Whats the address"

I dictate the address to her.

"What building is it?" she asks.

"uh, what?"

"What building is it? which company"

"umm, I don't know, its ,, a student hostel", I try to explain.

"A student's hospital?"

"oh no! no!, a student HOSTEL!!!"

"Are you a student there?"

I am getting angry and impatient, "No I am not a student here".

"Then what are you doing there?"

Now I know what you're thinking,, I was thinking the same 'WTH does it matter?'

'I am just a visitor here' I manage to say relatively calmly.

'Ahh!, you're a visitor., ok, what's the address?' she says.

and I repeat the address knowing the its going to be a long time before I get out of there. She gives me 20-30 minutes timeline which I admit I didn't trust a single bit. And thats why I ring the friend I am visiting, and apparently he's pretty relaxed about my situation. Its not a big deal for the guys living there I guess. He fetches one of the building staff and I am out in like 5 minutes.

Moral of the story machines often betray us, but then again, so do humans.

P.S. I have been living in the same building for about 10 months now and have used the same lift hundreds of times perhaps and not once has it imprisoned me since.