Ever Wondered Why Most Elevators Have Mirrors?
Hello people, we have a task for you today!
Climb up 21 floors of the nearest skyscraper and we mean climb the stairs, no elevators
allowed!
Ah, some of you are already panting at the thought while the weak hearted like us have
fainted!
Sorry guys, we didn’t mean to snatch away your breath in a “not-at-all” romantic
way but we had to prove a point.
Elevators were an important invention!
Like come on, our lives are so dependent on them especially after high-rise buildings
became pretty much a norm.
Buildings go well over 30 stories these days but even when we were beginning to understand
the need of piling up one floor over another to save space, elevators were crucial.
And so today’s video is dedicated to this amazing invention and decoding its biggest
secret!
We are smart players, we have you hooked with the promise of decoding a secret!
Don’t give us the look of an angry betrayed lover, we’ve not dumped you in mid journey.
But think of this, you live on the 19th floor and just for one day, the elevators vanish,
poof!
Now that’s what you call being left alone with no solace or even a second option!
You won’t be coming out of your house- work from it is!
Haha, we aren’t calling you lazy, we’d all do the same.
Even the gym jocks will think twice before attempting to climb down hundreds of stairs!
Alright, we’ve already proved how badly we need our elevators so let’s move on to
the next part- the much awaited secret!
So have you noticed that a lot of elevators have mirrors?
Ah, that’s a hard to miss detail, silly question!
The moment you enter an elevator, you are faced with a familiar face- your face, only
if the elevator is empty because otherwise you’ll actually see a dozen faces and just
one thought in your head- how does one squish into this already cramped space?
Oops, that poor joke drove away our focus from the mirrors but never mind, we are back
to admiring our lovely self in the mirror.
Uhmm, but this is also not the focus for today’s video.
Enough of beating around the bush, we’d better start with the reason those giant mirrors
greet you in the lift, shall we?
So what do you think is the reason elevators come with mirrors?
Of course, the mascara that you forgot to put on before you left home can be nicely
applied with such huge mirrors staring in our face!
And while in the office lift, we do the final touch-up before we step out to come face to
face with that cute receptionist!
Hell, had it not been for the elevator mirrors, we’d have been late to office every day
because then the final swipe of gloss would have to be done in the car itself-ughh, extra
few minutes.
Can we all thank elevator mirrors to save us some precious few minutes as we hide our
dark circles from last night’s party with powder and make a dash for the attendance
biometric!
But surely last minute beautification isn’t the reason for having mirrors in the lift,
right?
Uhmm, close enough but not exactly.
Let’s take you back in time when elevators were relatively a new concept.
So in the industrial age, new buildings were springing up at every corner and more often
than not, these buildings were way taller than what we could imagine.
So elevators were a must, nobody would think of climbing all the stairs!
But there was a major problem, speed of the elevators.
They were oh-so-slow!
And humans are generally short of patience so obviously complaints began creeping in
which freaked out the elevator companies.
Now nobody wants to disappoint their customers so meeting were organized where different
ideas were poured out.
But machinery was expensive and improving the speed could have cost the companies their
assets so yea, BAD IDEA!
Wait, where do mirrors come in this equation of speed?
Uhmm, someone probably suggested that the speed is not slow but the people feel that
it is slow.
That, my friend gave a new angle to the problem which was now, not the lift but the people!
Research was conducted on the people using elevators to climb the floors and any guesses
what they found?
It was reported that people thought the elevators were a lot slower than they actually were.
The reason for this over-exaggeration of time was that people had nothing to do during the
journey!
They figured that people get bored during their “up-down” journey in the elevator
and if they are kept busy or distracted, they could save a lot of money.
You know where we are getting at, right?
Yes, they put up mirrors in the elevators to keep the passengers distracted so that
they don’t realize the speed of the lift and thus, don’t complain!
We gotta agree it was a smart move because it worked!
New “improved” elevators were installed and nobody realized they were tricked into
believing that the speed was improved.
The speed was the same, the only difference being the mirror.
Seems like everyone was busy appreciating themselves in the mirrors and didn’t look
at the watch very often!
This ploy was more suited back in the day when elevators were slow but what’s their
significance now?
We are used to seeing ourselves in elevator mirrors and powder up and habits are hard
to break!
We know that’s what you want to hear and it may be partly true also but there’s more
to the story so wait with patience.
One of the reasons you still see mirrors in elevators is safety!
Do you know that lift mirrors have played a role in spotting theft and even predicting
an assault?
In Japan – which is thought to be where the lift mirror was first introduced – the
purpose is accessibility.
Elevators have made it possible for wheelchair users to move to different floors with ease
because stairs prove to be a major obstacle for them.
But since the size of lifts is small, it becomes difficult for the wheelchair to turn around.
The placement of mirrors helps someone in a wheelchair to back in or out of the lift
safely without having to turn.
This can prevent accidents and make life easier for anyone with a physical disability using
your building.
Now that’s a noble reason!
You are already convinced that having mirrors in lifts is a good idea but we have one more
reason.
A lot of people feel claustrophobic in the elevator, you know the reason, right?
The lack of fresh air, cramped space and too many people contribute to a very uncomfortable
feeling- anxiety!
People who are claustrophobic get sweaty palms and raised heartbeat while in the lift.
Interestingly, having mirrors in the elevator reduces anxiety because they add a sense of
space to the cramped room and helps to avoid feelings of being trapped.
Isn’t that amazing?
Elevators are a part of our life and so are the mirrors in them.
What do think about the reasons of having mirrors in elevators?
Tell us in the comment section below.
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Thanks for watching.