This morning as I was leaving the gym, another member was also walking out at the same time as me. As we approach the door, a man and a woman are also coming in so they open the door for us as we walk out. I say thanks to the man as he is directly in front of me and one second later, I hear the girl say, “EXCUSE ME! YOU’RE WELCOME.” I turn around make eye contact with her and smile. I am still unsure if that was aimed at me or at the other lady she had opened the door for but my goodness, she was not pleased. It reminded me of the awkward situations on the road when someone makes a dangerous maneuver and the person affected just honks and honks and honks. Initially you’re on the victim’s side but suddenly, the honking pushes you to emphasize more with the person that did the wrongful deed. Geez, stop honking lady, you’re making us normal drivers uncomfortable with your road rage. And as a resident of Los Angeles, this is a daily occurrence. Everyone here has road rage or is in the process of acquiring it.
As a person who always checks to see if I need to hold the door for anyone, I know this feeling of displeasure. I’ve encountered many situations where I open the door for someone and they walk through and express no gratitude, as if I was supposed to be catering to them. I have internal dialogues with that person and my imagination can run pretty wild as these fake discussions have gotten quite heated. One even ended in a matrix style gun fight. I was victorious of course.
So, is there a solution to this madness? Is there a way to not feel the guilt of holding the door for someone or the pressure of having to speed walk from 100 feet away as you see someone holding the door for you? Ladies and Gentlemen, there is. I present to you, the revolving door. With a revolving door you don’t need to look behind you, you just go. Each person is responsible for their own limbs as they enter this spinning death trap. If it is an automatic revolving door, even better, every man for themselves. I think the lady at the gym should choose to only go places that have revolving doors so she does not need to incur a stroke of anger everything someone overlooks saying thank you.
Now, that’s just the beginning because revolving doors are more than just adult merry go rounds. Did you know that revolving doors are energy efficient as they create an airlock preventing drafts so heat/cool does not leave the building? Did you know that revolving doors act as security as most revolving doors only allow one person in at a time so it is harder to tailgate people? One historical event did show that revolving doors were not perfect when a fire went out and many people died due to their inability to exit the building in a timely manner. However, revolving doors have been reformed to be collapsible so that people can exit on both sides or they need to have an additional swinging hinge door nearby. Make a resolve: revolve.
Thoughts of Tim Chen 