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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
“Hello?
Hello!” When there was no answer, the thrum of persistent knocking. Finally,
the shrill sound of a ringing bell similar to noise of an old-fashioned alarm
clock rang once, twice. Then the cycle repeated; this time, the voice sounded
more plaintive, more panicked.
“Excuse
me? I think someone is stuck in one of the elevators,” I told the receptionist.
The
woman cocked her head in the direction of the elevators and picked up her
phone. “I’ll call security,” she told me with a calm smile.
It
seemed like ages until someone finally showed up to help get the passenger out,
although probably only a few minutes had passed from the time I alerted someone
about the stuck elevator until the problem was resolved. The whole time, I battled
my own wave of panic and concern for the person stuck inside while sending these
mental messages: “Help is coming. You will get out soon.” It was 3 p.m.—well past
lunch-time—but what if he or she had not eaten anything since breakfast? I knew
from my hypnotherapy training and personal experience that hunger and low blood-sugar
levels can bring on or exacerbate anxiety and trigger symptoms of nausea,
dizziness and weakness. I have helped my clients work through phobias that were
created by subconsciously associating the physical symptoms of having a low
blood-sugar level with an object or some event going on in their environment. Since
the person in the stuck elevator was also actually experiencing this event, it would be reasonable if the person
developed a legitimate fear of elevators after today. What if he or she already
had a phobia of elevators….? But, I was getting ahead of myself.
Of course, the building’s security officers
showed up and got the person out of the elevator. He seemed no worse for wear
and was even laughing about what had happened. I wondered what I would or could
have done in his situation. Like this passenger, I would have called out for
help and activated the alarm, like he did. Then I would have worked on calming
down (and remaining calm) by doing diaphragmatic breathing so I could focus on
possible options to resolve my problem. Once I established that there was
cellular reception from where I was, I could call someone in the office I was
visiting in that building to let them know there was a problem with one of the elevators
and ask them to send help for me. Alternatively, I could have called a friend
or family member to look up the phone number of a general manager of the
building and raise the alarm. I could have even called 911.
I
think the thing that most disturbed me about the incident was other people’s
response to it—or lack of response. Even
if I was the only person who initially heard the person knocking and calling for
help, which I doubt, the alarm bell was very loud. The receptionist didn’t seem
too concerned when I told her that I thought someone was stuck in an elevator;
it was as if one or the other machine malfunctioned on a regular basis and this
was another daily inconvenience. People continued to walk past, chatting on
their mobile phones or with a friend. Some pressed the call button to summon the
other elevator to take them back downstairs. But no one seemed particularly
worried, curious about or interested in the shrill rings that cut through the
air every few seconds. It was like they didn’t want to get involved. Maybe they
didn’t, and that scares me more than the idea of being stuck somewhere. I just find
it very sad and disheartening that we can no longer generally count on the
kindness and awareness of strangers for help and support during a crisis or an
emergency.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2014
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