Everywhere you go nowadays in the Metro Vancouver area, you are bound to find an escalator that doesn’t work. As of yesterday at Metrotown station, one of the escalators isn’t functioning. There have been fixes to other escalators, but people like to joke about how there will eventually be another escalator repair.
I remember when stairs were common in indoor spaces like malls. Over the past ten years, they started disappearing. Metrotown station used to have a giant staircase going down where it would split into either going to the mall or outside. Since implementing tap systems for payment, they redesigned the station where the only staircase is the one in the center. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it makes me wonder why they felt like removing stairs was necessary. Are people seriously that lazy to walk down some stairs? Before anyone talks about people with leg problems, let’s remember that elevators still exist. Stairs will always be perfectly functional (unless there are some structural issues) and will never face any need for maintenance minus cleaning.
Escalators can also be freaky. I had a few of going down escalators for 8 years before finally snapping out of it because of a time I went out with my friends. Even now, I still feel a bit uneasy when getting on. I worry that I might slip or misstep which could lead to me falling. I can’t walk fast on an escalator so whenever I need to move, I make sure there’s no one behind me.
Good morning sports fans.
PSA: tie your shoe laces before getting on a escalator. My lace just got caught at the bottom. And the escalator won. Took me down. Luckily I had just finished my coffee.
Happy Wednesday. Have a great one.
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) January 11, 2023
I don’t think escalators should be the dominant way of getting up and down places. With the possibility of them breaking down, to people having fears of them, it still makes me wonder why we thought these things were a good idea in the first place