44 •
The Lion King
• July - September 2017
Feature
L i f t
Etiquette
By Funlola Obe
W
hen I was assigned the task of
writing about ‘lift etiquette’,
my initial reaction was ‘huh?!
How am I supposed to write an entire
article on this? And who even cares
about lift etiquette’. So I had to start
thinking and I immediately thought
of my experience coming into UBA
house every morning and I understood
the need for this article. UBA house
is a large building with over 2,500
people coming in and out of it on a
daily basis, and 9 lifts to carry us all up
and down. Yet so many of us (myself
included) constantly do the wrong
thing when getting into the lifts we
all share. So in doing my assignment
well, I went through a lot of research
and began to watch people’s habits
everyday I got into the lifts. Here are
some tips on how to make the few
minutes we spend in the lift everyday
pleasant and safe for all of us.
ODOURS
This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine (in
fact it was the first thing that came
to my mind when I started drafting
this article), and I’m sure a lot of
people would agree. Good hygiene
is extremely important and should be
practiced every day especially if you
work or live in a building where you
take elevators frequently. Nothing is
worse than a bad smell in an enclosed
space as this draws attention to any
odour, and it would be highly embar-
rassing to be in a lift and everyone is
looking at you because you have B.O.
Also on this topic, burping and pass-
ing gas are highly unacceptable. You
might be alone in the lift and think it’s
ok, but then what happens when the
door opens unexpectedly and some-
one else walks in? Save yourself the
embarrassment and save the person
the discomfort and do this in your own
space. Note that eating extremely
smelly food is also a no-no.
RESPECT PEOPLE’S SPACE
Personal space is an important thing
to me and I’m sure a lot of people, so
it bothers me a lot when people don’t
