One of my building's elevators was offline for the weekend. There was some kind of maintenance issue that required people in jumpsuits coming out and making a racket for two solid days. The weekend was chosen based on the assumption that more people needed to get to work during the week. While probably true, I usually work weekends. That sort of thing might be a first world problem, but it was a bit of an inconvenience.
My building has multiple elevators. You can only get to your apartment from one. Each elevator only serves two apartments on each floor. Most of the time, that works well. The elevators are never crowded because only the people directly above or below you should be on your elevator. I also like the fact that I only have one neighbor on my floor, and that our apartments are separated by the elevator shaft/stairwell. We share no walls and rarely see each other. This is the ideal setup to have good neighbors. There are other apartments on the floor, but their walls do not touch my walls and there is no way to get from my apartment to theirs without taking my elevator down and taking theirs up.
The downside is that if the elevator is broken, which has never happened, or is being repaired, the stairs are our only option. I live on the 21st floor. From the basement parking, that is 22 floors to walk up. I like to exercise, but there are limits. Imagine carrying your Costco boxes up 22 floors. Fortunately, we were warned ahead of time that the elevator would be out of commission. My 45 pound cases of water could wait another day. Unfortunately, my neighbor is at least 80 years old. She was away visiting relatives when the elevator went offline. Getting down was easy. The elevator worked when she left. Getting her back was going to take a little more effort.
When I arrived on the scene, my neighbor was asking the doorman how she was supposed to get upstairs without an elevator. It was a good question. I was prepared for the hike. She was not. The doorman suggested waiting until the elevator was scheduled to be back in operation. That would have required spending the night elsewhere, and she was already coming back from an overnight trip. As an advanced citizen, she is a little set in her ways. Even convincing her to spend the night in a hotel would have required someone going up to her apartment to grab a few things, which most likely would have included some unmentionables that she would never want anyone to touch. Someone also would have to pay for it, because she never would have. She considered the building responsible for her predicament, despite their written warnings about the elevator closing. I have only known my neighbor to be a sweet little old lady. Like a lot of people set in their ways, she often ignores written warnings about something being different. Someone would also have to drive her to the hotel because she does not drive. Everyone over 65 has to take the driving test over again, so most older people simply stop driving.
In the end, we decided to just carry her upstairs. And by we, I mean two of the building's maintenance staff. She refused to be carried, what with all the touching of her private person, until I suggested she sit in a chair and we (they) carry the chair. While people she only vaguely recognized carried her up 21 floors, I carried her luggage. The good news for me was that she travels light. I have no idea what she had in her carry-on bag. It felt like a pillow and sounded like her hat collection.
Two relatively young men carrying a little old lady up the stairs might sound like an easy job, but that stairway was not really designed for people to walk side by side while lifting someone in a chair. They had to walk single file and make sure not to hit her head. She was convinced they were going to drop her every step of the way. I walked behind them, more for her peace of mind than for my convenience. That let me move at a leisurely pace.
Eventually, we were all at her front door. She offered to pay the young men who carried her, but they are not allowed to accept gratuities. Also, this is a culture that respects the elderly. They never thought twice about helping a little old lady get home. I did far less, and I had to walk up those stairs to get to my own apartment. She never offered to pay me. I am absolutely allowed to accept gratuities. As my neighbor, she offered me the first batch of cookies she made the next day. My roommates are not fans of hard, sugarless Taiwanese cookies, and consider hers inedible. I can eat pretty much anything. My legs and my teeth got a pretty good workout.
I doubt any formal complaints were ever filed, but my neighbor complained plenty when she came home and discovered the closed elevator. I don't remember the exact time the notice about maintenance was posted. I seem to recall having ample warning. It was a minor inconvenience that I knew about ahead of time. The building's management probably also thought we had sufficient warning.
There is currently a notice about upcoming four-hour maintenance on the elevator. In six months.
