On The Escalator With Rachel

Rachel does not like escalators.  She’s nervous about stepping onto an escalator and she’s nervous about stepping off of the escalator.  During the actual ride on the escalator she’s not so bad.  (It’s nice and slow.  She likes slow rides.)

But today we were at a store where the escalator did not work and I made the odd discovery that she’s actually more nervous about walking down an escalator… when it’s not moving at all!

It took us a long, long time to walk down the non-functional escalator.  The line of people walking down the escalator behind us got longer and longer.  I kept looking back at the folks—as I held her hand, helping her—saying, “I’m so sorry.  She’s nervous.” 

And they were very nice and said, “It’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.  Take your time.”

When she stopped midway to think it over and gather some more courage for the second half of the trip, though, I’m pretty sure I detected some grumbling from the growing crowd waiting behind us.  But, maybe I’m just being overly sensitive.