On Wedneday, I was on the 46th floor of the Independence Blue Cross Building at 18th & Market.
That's the floor that the maintenance guys have their offices, Pretty Spartan at best, but one sensational view.
After two hours of training the guys, I called for a break.
Since I was there 6 months before, I thought that I knew my way to the washroom.
I had to pee.
After opening, the metal door slammed behind me with a bang.
That's when I realized that stairwell was the fire stairwell, not the stairway the the locker room.
Yes, all doors are locked until you get down to the lobby 460 feet or more below.
This was a true "oh shit" moment.
I started knocking on the door, at first with polite knuckle taps then with fist banging.
Of course the hallway outside the door was near some noisy equipment and nobody goes by that door unless they are on their way to the locker room. I put my ear on the door, I could only hear motors running.
Knocking or screaming would be a waste of time.
Surely, no search party either, I doubt that they would have noticed that I was missing for hours.
It was time to re-think my situation. The good news was that I would survive this dilemma.
The sign in the stairwell said, "To Roof". With my fear of heights, peeing off the roof was not going to work.
So "down" seemed to be the answer. If I banged on each door, someone would eventually hear me.
So Down I went. 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38.
I heard my brain saying, "This is not working, ass-hole."
Going down the stairwell felt like descending into an underground bunker.
No windows, just the smell of concrete and blinking flourescent lights.
37, 36, 35,.... then I heard a noise. Must be a rat or ??
I stood silent. Then I heard the shuffle of footsteps.
It was one of the building mechanics going from the 33rd to the 31st floor.
I called out. "excuse me". It sounded lame, but calling "help" seemed to over anxious.
He looked up the over the rail.
I recognized him and he knew who I was.
Yes, he had a key.
I found the men's room and then the elevator.
As I expected, nobody even asked where I was for the last half- hour.
They didn't even thank me for the extra long break.
And, That's me in the tree
That's the floor that the maintenance guys have their offices, Pretty Spartan at best, but one sensational view.
After two hours of training the guys, I called for a break.
Since I was there 6 months before, I thought that I knew my way to the washroom.
I had to pee.
After opening, the metal door slammed behind me with a bang.
That's when I realized that stairwell was the fire stairwell, not the stairway the the locker room.
Yes, all doors are locked until you get down to the lobby 460 feet or more below.
This was a true "oh shit" moment.
I started knocking on the door, at first with polite knuckle taps then with fist banging.
Of course the hallway outside the door was near some noisy equipment and nobody goes by that door unless they are on their way to the locker room. I put my ear on the door, I could only hear motors running.
Knocking or screaming would be a waste of time.
Surely, no search party either, I doubt that they would have noticed that I was missing for hours.
It was time to re-think my situation. The good news was that I would survive this dilemma.
The sign in the stairwell said, "To Roof". With my fear of heights, peeing off the roof was not going to work.
So "down" seemed to be the answer. If I banged on each door, someone would eventually hear me.
So Down I went. 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38.
I heard my brain saying, "This is not working, ass-hole."
Going down the stairwell felt like descending into an underground bunker.
No windows, just the smell of concrete and blinking flourescent lights.
37, 36, 35,.... then I heard a noise. Must be a rat or ??
I stood silent. Then I heard the shuffle of footsteps.
It was one of the building mechanics going from the 33rd to the 31st floor.
I called out. "excuse me". It sounded lame, but calling "help" seemed to over anxious.
He looked up the over the rail.
I recognized him and he knew who I was.
Yes, he had a key.
I found the men's room and then the elevator.
As I expected, nobody even asked where I was for the last half- hour.
They didn't even thank me for the extra long break.
And, That's me in the tree
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