Claustrophobia??

After a long day at work, as usual I was eager to get home... after waiting for what seems like eternity, the lifts finally arrive... (yeah, the lifts in my office building sucks!!). I was going down from the 17th floor when the lifts stopped on the 12th floor...

Thinking that someone else was also calling it a day, I waited for the doors to open... BUT, no... the doors were firmly shut and there was silence... I waited for a few minutes and nothing happened... I pushed the "open" button once.. nothing... gave it another try... still nothing... okay, now I'm getting worried... I started punching the "open" button but in vain... SHIT... there's no one else in the lifts with me!! (sigh, I guess I'm the only unlucky one having to work late!!)

Since the doors would not budged at all and the lift seems like it's dead, I did what a rational person would do... I pressed the emergency alarm button... This is definitely the first time I ever used the emergency button!! Realised that it's actually a phone line, connecting me to the security people... A voice asked me why did I press the button (DUH, do I look like I'm pressing it for fun?? I want to get home okay??) but seeing that the voice was the only person who could help me out, I decided not to be rude and explained that I was stuck on the 12th floor. The voice then promptly said that they will send an engineer to look at the matter and cut off the call... (er... okay... talk about friendliness... come on, I'm stuck here okay... the least you can do is to give me some sympathy here... )

When the call was disconnected, again there was silence... and while waiting for the engineer to arrive, it suddenly dawned me that I'm ALONE and STUCK in this box!! At that moment, I suddenly felt a shiver and cold spell... All I wanted was to get out and get home... and there was no one to talk to or joke about it... I guess for a split second, I was experiencing fear... 15 mins passed... but it seems like it was eternity to me...

I couldn't take it anymore and pressed for the emergency button again... this time, a friendlier voice asked me how he can help... I explained it again (although I felt quite dumb repeating such a situation over and over again!!) and said that an engineer was supposed to come to my rescue but I have been waiting for quite a while now... the friendlier voice told me that the engineer was already looking into the matter and told me to not worry... (not to worry?? yeah, I'm sure there's nothing much to worry about apart from being stuck in a box smaller than the size of my toilet!!)

Just as I was about to say something else, all of a sudden, the doors just opened... voila, it's like someone has just shouted open sesame!! Still, the engineer was no where to be seen... but I didn't care... I told the voice that the doors just opened and I'm getting out... and without thinking... I went for the stairs and walked down 12 flights of stairs...

Since I have not much luck lately, I figure out that I may be the only person who would actually be trapped in the lifts twice in a row... and I'm definitely not planning to risk that!! When I finally reached the lobby... (oh wait, the lobby is on the 3rd floor.. so it's only 9 flights of stairs...) the cold and not-so-fresh air of London Bridge bus station was so welcoming! (I've never thought it could be that good...)

Hmmm... so... do I have claustrophobia?? Perhaps... but I don't reckon so... I think it's just a combination of tiredness and irritation... (okay, so maybe a bit of fear as well...) Thank goodness we're moving office soon... it's no wonder why they want to tear the building down... And I completely understand why!! What an experience...