Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Broken Escalator Challenge

I ride escalators and walk up and down countless flights of stairs as part of my daily life here in Taipei. Yet I can't seem to walk on to a broken escalator without nearly falling on my face! Why is that? It's not like I can't see that the escalator is motionless. No matter how I prepare myself for taking more than one step, I can't make the smooth transition.

It happened again today. After I took my first step, it felt like I was falling off of a skateboard. It is the strangest feeling.

I am not alone here. Here is an article written in England's Daily Mail newspaper pertaining to this very issue. It is one of those odd things in our daily lives.

Anyone else out there willing to swallow their pride and admit to this silly behavior?

4 comments:

John Naruwan said...

I believe the standard response to this kind of scientific study over at Fark is "Still no cure for cancer"!

This broken escalator phenomenon gets me every time. I always have to hold onto both rails and concentrate on each step, all the while trying not to look too uncool. Going down is definitely the hardest.

David said...

I agree, going down is much tougher. It's impossible to look cool in this situation. When you try, you increase the chances of falling on your face exponentially...lol

Mark said...

What a fascinating problem! I don't have it myself, but I can imagine it exactly.

Do you look at your feet as you go down? Sometimes that makes me stumble a bit on stairs.

David said...

hey Mark,

i try to act as if i am simply climbing stairs...somehow, it just doesn't work! i am not sure if i look at feet. my legs just turn to jelly...lol.