How to Know If Your Elevator is Roman

+JMJ+

Want to know if your elevator has Roman tendencies?  Here are a few common characteristics to watch out for:

1.  Floor "1" is not actually the first floor.  It's the second floor.  While American elevators use "1" to indicate the ground floor, the "first" floor that you encounter, Roman elevators use "1" to indicate the "first" floor above the ground floor.  This is terribly misleading when using the stairs.  But, we are talking about Roman elevators, not Roman stairs.  That's a whole another post.

2.  There are buttons that display "0" or "T."  Important: these two symbols are used interchangeably to indicate the ground or main floor.  Floor zero...because you have gone zero floors up?  For anyone from my home parish, where the "T" button in the elevator indicates the lower "terrace" level, the Roman Elevator's "T" could be very confusing; but, now you know.

3. There are buttons that display negative numbers.  Welcome to the basement.  And, in my case, this is where the coffee bar is.  I press that button often...

4. The "24hr" symbol on the press-for-help button does not mean that help is available 24 hours a day; it means that you will probably have to wait 24 hours for help to come.

4.  The doors do not sense your presence.  In other words, if you are in the way when the elevator doors are closing, they won't stop for you; rather, they continue to close, full force, squishing and bruising their victim.  This is also common in Roman Bus doors and Roman Crowds.  Cars will stop for you, but nothing else will.

Ok, I made up number 4, but it is probably true.  Nothing in Rome is available 24 hours.

It is amazing how tired at the end of the day, how much I've done, and how much I still have to do.  I must go do ALL THE THINGS.  Good thing "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" Philippians 4:13.  With Jesus, ALL THE THINGS are possible!!!!