Escalators---parents beware!

DL-- I witnessed this very thing too once when I worked in retail..
The outcome was not so good though. Could be why I have a "thing" about escalators to this day.

Been there, done that, learned my lesson, and now I don't try to see what would happen if I try to jam my foot against the side of the elevator.
I was maybe five or six years old and still have a very vivid memory of that experience. I was wearing Keds, which looked similar to the Chuck Taylor's, but were a different brand. As my Mom and I were ascending on the escalator, I tried to see if it was possible for someone to get stuck, and I wondered what would happen if one got stuck. It took only a couple of seconds to feel like my foot was being sucked into a black hole. I freaked, and said nothing to my mom, who was in front of me, as I tried with all my might to pull my foot out. It finally worked. Seemed like hours, but was no more than a couple of seconds. My turned around and saw me and then she freaked, thinking about what just happened. When we reached the second floor of Sears, we checked out my shoe. The Keds shoe which I was wearing, has a bottom thickness of about 3/4 of an inch. The escalator had made a smooth slice right through the sole of my shoe, all the way to the canvass above the rubber sole. My foot would have been next.

With all of the chances of major accidents by children riding escalators, I have no clue why they don't have more safeguards to prevent such things.

I haven't had THAT type of problem, but since I have issues with vertigo, I try to avoid them whenever possible. I'm OK on small (10 - 20 steps) ones, but the escalators in the Atlanta airport give me an anxiety attack, especially when I am dragging luggage behind me.

Not that I advocate doing away with them, as stairs would be brutal. But meanwhile, I'll squeeze into the elevator.

So glad the little girl is OK (and, SJ, that you were too when you were young)!

somehow my brother broke his wrist on an escalator when he was about 5-6. have never gotten the whole story from him.

I haven't had THAT type of problem, but since I have issues with vertigo, I try to avoid them whenever possible. I'm OK on small (10 - 20 steps) ones, but the escalators in the Atlanta airport give me an anxiety attack, especially when I am dragging luggage behind me.

Not that I advocate doing away with them, as stairs would be brutal. But meanwhile, I'll squeeze into the elevator.

So glad the little girl is OK (and, SJ, that you were too when you were young)!

OMG!! SN!!! I have the same thing. (I don't think the incident I witnessed helped at all...but) I can't stand them! Sunkist and the whole family and most of my friends make funn of me because I will seek out an elevator every time! I break out in a cold sweat! When I went to Vegas, I was horrified to see that you can't get anywhere there without riding an escalator. I solved this issue with vodka.

Remember when the escalators were made with the "feeding" part of the belt up high instead of down on the floor? Don't remember how old I was--kindergarten age, maybe; I didn't take my hand off the rail/belt part right when I got to the bottom, and my hand went into it. Don't remember much about it, just being scared.

Remember when the escalators were made with the "feeding" part of the belt up high instead of down on the floor? Don't remember how old I was--kindergarten age, maybe; I didn't take my hand off the rail/belt part right when I got to the bottom, and my hand went into it. Don't remember much about it, just being scared.

So that's what happened to you. I always wondered.

So that's what happened to you. I always wondered.

I said hand, not head. :roll:

The only escalator mishap I have witnessed involved an elderly lady who fell on the thing;keep an eye on the seniors riding escalators, too

Loose Shoelaces! You don't want an escalator eating them either.

Escalators have always freaked me out a little. No real reason - they just do. One time I was riding an escalator after a stuffy subway ride and about halfway up --- some stupid kids (actually older than me at the time) pushed the emergency stop button!!!

So - the escalator was full and everyone did their best impersonation of a set of dominos. Luckily no one fell completely on their face - but a bunch of strangers bumping into each other was awkward to say the least.

Now --- it is Then I was...

Not to make light of the situation, but this thread reminds me of a scene (Actually a few scenes) from Mallrats, one of my favorite movies. Jason Lee's reaction to the kid on the escalator is hilarious. Listen closely at the end to the security announcement.

Escalators have always freaked me out a little.

My Mom's best friend when I was growing up absolutely refused to get on an escalator. That was back in the day when everyone in Atlanta shopped at the downtown Rich's and ate lunch at The Magnolia Room there (chicken pot pie and nut pound cake -- yum). Mom, her friend, friend's daughter, and I shopped together quite frequently. It was always annoying to have to take the elevator with her -- so much slower.

They just don't seem quite right - quite natural. I know that is a crazy thing to say when so much is machanical in this world. But there is something about the way I "feel" on an escalator that gives me pause.

Hey - I'll get on one. But I might be nervous all the way up/down.

I always make Grayton Kid stand in the middle. Of course he is running up and down. :shock:

the only escalator we have in town at a dept store ate my friend's elderly grandmother one time, the edge of her long coat got caught in it somehow and it was a mess. blood and everything...

They just don't seem quite right - quite natural. I know that is a crazy thing to say when so much is machanical in this world. But there is something about the way I "feel" on an escalator that gives me pause.

Hey - I'll get on one. But I might be nervous all the way up/down.

I agree. In today's mechanical world, mostly for liability reasons, we tend to see nothing but clean and safe lines of machines such as these. Look at the elevator as an example. We see nice doors from the outside, and when we step inside the cage, some of them are really fancy looking, with Mahagony panels and soft lighting. The escalator still looks like we are seeing all of the parts which should be hidden from view, those same parts which also make it look dangerous. Those grooved steps also look like jagged edges which could do some real damage to your lower mandible if you were to fall.

A little 5 year old girl lost her foot in a similar escalator accident at a downtown department store here in St. Louis about 15 years ago. I think of that nearly every time I get on an escalator.

OMG!! SN!!! I have the same thing. (I don't think the incident I witnessed helped at all...but) I can't stand them! Sunkist and the whole family and most of my friends make funn of me because I will seek out an elevator every time! I break out in a cold sweat! When I went to Vegas, I was horrified to see that you can't get anywhere there without riding an escalator. I solved this issue with vodka.

I'll have to try vodka. So far I've just used deep labor breathing. It also doesn't help that I am not graceful , and getting on and off an escalator "smoothly" is a challenge for me. Maybe vodka wouldn't be helpful after all...

I'll have to try vodka. So far I've just used deep labor breathing. It also doesn't help that I am not graceful , and getting on and off an escalator "smoothly" is a challenge for me. Maybe vodka wouldn't be helpful after all...

I think that's part of what scares me too, is the getting off and on....but I found with vodka...you don't care...

Well it has been confirmed in my mind, that I am finished with escalators when my kids are with me. Especially if more than one and I can't really keep a good hand on them. Even if the stroller moms are crowding the elevator, I will wait my turn or seek the stairs!!! I am learning from others on this one, so I don't have to experience it myself!

I'm underwhelmed. They have never bothered me in the least, and I doubt they ever will. The idea has always been to keep all clothing and body parts away from the grooved, moving parts of the escalator, and all is well.

Then again, I operate chainsaws for a living, so I guess an escalator is relatively tame.

Honestly, I've always been more suspicious of elevators. You always know what an escalator is doing. It goes at the same speed all the time, and if it breaks a belt or something then you're left standing on a harmless staircase. Elevator doors always seem like they're waiting to eat someone. And if an elevator fails, gravity takes over.

(Where's the "falling to one's death" smiley?)

Deep escalator/elevator thoughts, NoHall. I ask this...how weird and hard is it to walk up an escalator that is not moving? My answer...VERY!!!

Deep escalator/elevator thoughts, NoHall. I ask this...how weird and hard is it to walk up an escalator that is not moving? My answer...VERY!!!

Nuh-uh. Piece o'cake.

It's really hard to walk up

1. an escalator that is going the other way, and
2. an elevator that isn't moving (or, worse, that's also going the other way!)

Ask me about my elevator nightmare sometime. (It involved Dick van Dyke.)

I'm underwhelmed. They have never bothered me in the least, and I doubt they ever will. The idea has always been to keep all clothing and body parts away from the grooved, moving parts of the escalator, and all is well.

So they are safe if you use them properly and watch your kids .......why does this seem like a recurring idea?