The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: elevator

  • Dodo Bird Jobs

    This isn’t the first time engineers have looked into automating one of my drawbridges, and it won’t be the last. People don’t like the idea of paying bridgetenders when they spend the bulk of their time “doing nothing.” These automation ideas generally do not come to fruition, because it’s very easy to get killed on…

  • Whack-a-Doo

    Once I was riding on a very slow and extremely crowded elevator. We all had our eyes glued to the floor number indicator, as you do. My mind wandered. I thought of something really funny that happened to a friend recently, and I started to giggle. The tension rose with the elevator. People began to…

  • A Brief Encounter

    One day, the summer of my 25th year, I was standing in a New York City subway station and had the place to myself, which was a surprise. I was waiting for the sound of the approaching transport as you do in those situations. Once you’ve read all the advertisements, there’s really nothing to look…