Several of my friends have heard this story, and a few of them encouraged me to blog my "elevator story".....So here it is.
Labor Day weekend, we took the family and headed to San Antonio for a long weekend. We checked into the 4 star hotel where we have stayed year after year. We love this hotel!
The next morning, we had breakfast and headed out to the Riverwalk. The girls ended up at Ripley's Believe It Or Not, while my husband and I walked around the Alamo. We headed back to the hotel and went for a swim......this is where the tale begins.......
After about an hour, the rest of the family went upstairs to shower and get ready for the evening. I decided I would lay out by the pool and get some sun and read. After 45 minutes or so, I made my way into the hotel to go up to our room. I got on the elevator....alone.
I pushed the button for floor number 15 and started up. After about 10 floors the elevator stopped. I stood there and waited for it to start again. It did not. Then, because I've watched so many movies, I started thinking that the elevator could quite possibly fall down to the bottom and I could die! So, I quickly sat down and braced myself! (I know now that it would not have mattered if I were standing or sitting....I would have plunged to my death)...but lucky for me, I didn't know that fact at the time.
After about 5 minutes of Nothing, I pushed a button that appeared to be an intercom. Some lady said "front desk, may I help you?"...I said..."Yes, I'm stuck in the elevator?"...She said, "oh yes ma'am we have someone working on that", and HUNG UP ON ME! So, I sat back down and braced myself. I prayed. I really did not want to die right then, my hair was a mess!!
I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more. So I pushed the intercom again. This time a man said "front desk, may I help you?".....I said..."Yes, I'm the one stuck in the elevator?"....He said, "yes ma'am, the fire department is on it's way."....I said..."Can someone call my husband in room 1504 and let him know where I am?"...He said yes.
So, back in our room....the electricity had been out, so the family was just sitting around wondering where I was. Apparently, one of the girls said..."Wouldn't it be funny if she were stuck in an elevator?"...just then, the phone rang and my husband answered it. After a few minutes he said..."which one is she stuck in?".....Then, I've been told, laughter filled the room, as I guess this was a funny image for them!!
After about 20 more minutes......I pushed the intercom AGAIN!......another lady said "front desk, may I help you?"....I said......"Is someone going to get me out???!?!?!!".....she said, "yes the fire department is here and they are looking for you."
Meanwhile, down in the lobby.....my husband had walked down 15 flights of stairs and was trying to find out what was going on. NO ONE at the front desk could tell him where I was, or if anyone had contacted me in the elevator!!! (Who had I been talking to all that time???) Maybe I was calling the front desk of some other hotel across town? I'm still not sure.
So, my husband meets the firefighters as they come in. FOUR firetrucks....just for me! The front desk couldn't tell them anything either! My husband took charge and told him that I was stuck somewhere between floor 1 and floor 15. They took off looking for me.
Suddenly, I could hear a firefighter's voice. He was calling my name! I could hear him faintly, then he got louder and louder. Suddenly, the doors to the elevator began to pry open. When they opened, I saw that I was between floors. I could see the inside of the elevator shaft, and the floor was above my head. It was kinda scary at that point.
But as the doors opened, I saw a sea of firefighters in their blue uniforms....SO many of them......but I also saw my husband right in the front of them leading them to me! I was comforted by that sight.
The firefighter said....."We are going to take your hands and pull you out. When we do, it needs to be fast!". All I was thinking of was how glad I was that I had put a cover-up on over my bathing suit!!!
So, he counted, "One, Two, Three"...and they pulled me up and onto the floor. I felt like I was in a movie. Then they immediately moved to the elevator and secured it so it wouldn't go anywhere. I found out later that they pulled me out so fast because sometimes elevators start moving, and people have been cut in half. Good to know.
The hotel was very apologetic and we got a free room out of the experience. My family got a good laugh, and I have yet another story to tell in my psyc class!
