Anyway, I just got a union newsletter, dated October 1st, urging me to vote for Obama/Biden. As they say, timing is everything. Guess things worked out, but I wonder how many other people got this late. What a waste of my union dues.
Got my teeth cleaned today. My dentist's office is in a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. The elevators, in accordance to the Americans for Disabilities Act, have braille next to the floor buttons. But, the elevators now work off a call system. You press a station in the corridor by the elevator bank for the floor you want, the system tells you which elevator to take, and when you get inside, your floor button is already pressed. Now, that screen is a touch screen. I didn't see any way a blind person -- the person who would have used the braille inside the elevator to find his or her floor button to press -- would use it. Maybe voice activated? I didn't see any indication. Next time, I'll have to check, because if there's no way to use it if you can't see, it defeats the purpose of helping sight-impaired persons from being independent. I suppose they could still enter and press the button for their desired floor, which you need to do once upstairs, but I'm not sure the system works that way. It was most perplexing.
Feeling:
~~~o0o~~~
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You're unionized! I don't recall if you've ever discussed your profession on your blog so I don't want to say what but for some reason I just find that so odd and humorous. LOL! When I think of union peeps I think steel workers, factory workers, truck drivers, Hoffa-esque kind of guys. Wow!
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'll finish reading your entry now.
Ha Ha Ha I see that it's in your profile. Librarians are unionized! I can say it loudly and with merriment. LOL!
ReplyDeletelol. Yeah, public employees are unionized: AFSCME. American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees.
ReplyDeleteMy recollection of large NYC elevators with annuciators is, due to crowds, one would "sing out" with the floor desired and the person closest to the panel would either select your floor for you or acknowledge it had already been chosen. Right?
ReplyDeleteI have no recall of anytime I was actually alone in an elevator in NYC office buildings (as opposed to apartment houses, hotels, hospitals at dead of night, etc.)
Then again, it has been quite a while since I rode in a really new elevator, so what do I know?
Apropos of the comments above, my previous wife was a member of the Teamsters and she worked as a typesetter for a university press! I was unionized in the merchant marine. In point of fact, it is my considered opinion that the unions were the cause of the destruction of the shipping industry in the USA.
Wil, this building put the new elevator system in a year or two ago. I don't know how busy it is, certainly no busier than it used to be when I have morning dental appointments. Since 9/11, visitors have to sign in.
ReplyDeleteThe touch pad tells you what elevator will carry you to the floor you indicate. If you blink, you could miss it. There is no audio component. When the right elevator arrives, you get in. Your floor button is pressed. Again, no audio announcement is made.
In elevators without this system, you get into the next available elevator and press your floor button, or ask someone closer to. Some have two panels, one on each side of the door. The new system is supposed to be more efficient, bunching people together by destination so 2 or 3 elevators aren't going to the same floor simultaneously, when 1 would be enough.