Where do you look when you're in a lift/elevator

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I just never know where to look and I'm not the only one either. Unfortunately though my job requires me to use the lift often. I find it one of the most socially awkward places in my life.

I look at my feet or the door while I try not to have a panic attack.

sometimes i stand and look at the buttons or look at my phone or something. sometimes i smile and say hello to the people, then i can look in their general direction without too much discomfort.

if i am feeling particularly devilish i stand with my back to the doors and face the people in the elevator. nothing removes awkwardness as effectively as making other people uncomfortable.

I'd likely freak out.

ima have to do this some day when i'm feeling brave
since accepting the fact that i make people awkward it's become somewhat of a guilty pleasure

one trick when you are facing the people is to smile and look friendly, and even nod at people. that gives them mixed messages as your body language says one thing and your face says another. it's a riot!

i think i stole the idea from a comedian in the 1980s

I look at the doors, or the little display which tells you the floor you are currently passing - just to make sure the lift is still moving and I'm not going to be stuck somewhere I don't particularly comfortable. I tend not to go in a lift alone for the same reason.

But I do avoid lifts where I can.

I'd rather climb ten flights of stairs, than risk getting stuck in a lift.

I look at the floor numbers.

I tend to look at the control panel and/or floor numbers.

I'm zoning out/daydreaming/not caring so much that I don't have a clue where I look

My feet.

I'd try to stand at the back and then proceed to look at the floor, buttons, ceiling, the thing that tells you what floor your on, any graffiti / marks dents in the walls, the backs of people's heads,my hands, my bag.... anywhere but other people's faces.

I'll usually notice how filthy it is, cringe, and then proceed to watch floor numbers change.

^^
This.
Door etc when it's only me and one or two others, feet/floor when it's mobbed.

I look at the ceiling and think about how I could get out of it, incase it got stuck. Then I check everything else out including the people, I take in and look at everything.

Thats the movies. I've been stuck in one. What happens when you get stuck in one is that you wait. And wait. And wait some more. WIth that horrible ringing emergency bell in the background. Then they eventually get it moving and get you out.

I had a terrible fear of elevators for a long time when I was younger. During a time when my job involved working in a tall building as a courier. I had to go from floor to floor, over and over. I wouldn't take the elevator. My legs looked great after I worked there for a while, from all the stair climbing. I was more afraid of the elevator falling, because in movies you see the cables that the cars hang from. I found out they aren't made that way anymore. There is a large piston under them that moves them up and down, so if it were to malfunction it would either stop or slowly sink back to the lowest level. Once I found out I wouldn't plunge to my death because a single snapped cable broke, I was fine with them.

I look at the floor buttons. However, I do something wierd in an elevator and I try to bring it up with others are there so they won't freak out when I do it. When it starts moving down I jump as soon as it moves. Feet off the floor jump. For a split second you can experience zero gravity this way. I mention that fact out loud after I do it. I do it in every single elevator I get in. Even in heels. if it's going up, you can do it whe it reaches the floor and settles back down a little bit.

Frances