December 22, 2019 – Our elevator stopped working on December 10th. Correction – the second of two elevators stopped working on December 10th.
I live on the 10th floor of a 12 story apartment building. There are two elevators that service the building (approx. 120 apartments). When we came to view the apartment, we loved the view and how high up we were. My mom and dog had mobility issues – neither of them could walk more than 4 steps. I asked the rental agent if they had problems with the elevator. “Oh we had problems a couple of years ago during the flood but nothing since.” Great. I signed the lease and we moved in. Two weeks after we moved in, Elevator #2 stopped working. Tenants were told that the parts were on order but had no idea when it would be operational. Our patience was appreciated.
About a week after #2 broke down, Elevator #1 broke down. Luckily it was working when I took the dog out. Sadly, it wasn’t working when I had to leave for work. I ended up walking down 10 flights of stairs. I called my mom in the morning and let her know it wasn’t working. I said that the dog should be okay for the day. She called me throughout the day, letting me know that she was walking out to the elevator but it wasn’t working. She said she could see the elevator repair truck in the parking lot – so they must be working on it.
I was stressed. What if something happened to mom and she needed to evacuate? What about the dog? He would need to pee at some point. I regretted the move. I had taken the rental agent’s word as truth. Clearly she was just trying to get the place rented.
I called mom before I headed home. The elevator wasn’t working yet. I braced myself for the inevitable 10 flight climb up. I was not looking forward to that. I worried about the dog. He would definitely have to pee after 10 hours. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
I pulled into the parking lot. The elevator repair truck was still there and somebody was sitting in it. Definitely not a good sign. I walked up to the truck and asked if the elevator was working. “Yes. I just got it running. I’m just sitting here for a while to make sure it’s working.” I breathed a sigh of relief. He went on to tell me that the elevator was in rough shape. He said they were doing what they could to keep it running and they were now on call 24/7. However, the elevator was going to keep breaking down; especially with #2 not working. I called mom and told her the elevator was working. She said she was on her way down with the dog. I met her in the lobby and took Chuck from her. Mom waited in the lobby while I took Chuck out. We returned. collected mom and we smiled as we walked into the elevator; grateful that it was working again. We had dodged a bullet.
The next day I went out and bought puppy pee pads – in case it happened again. I wasn’t sure if Chuck would use them. However, I had to be prepared in case it happened again.
And it would happen again. And again. And Again. Summer and fall would be hit and miss in terms of having an operational elevator. It would become a bit of a running joke: Are we going out today? We’ll see if the elevator is working.
I’d hold my breath waiting for the elevator to arrive. I’d breathe a sigh of relief every time the elevator door opened. I’d hold my breath again until I exited the elevator. If I didn’t hear any of the familiar clanking, I’d take the stairs. Going down wasn’t too bad – going up was shear hell. #2 elevator was still broken – no estimated repair date.
Fast forward to December 10, 2019. #1 broke down and, after waiting all day, we were informed that they didn’t know when it would be working. We were told that we could contact property management if we needed any accommodation. Mom and I had a lengthy discussion about going to stay in a hotel. She was trapped here and wouldn’t be going out until the elevator was fixed. What happens if there’s an emergency? Mom said she was fine. She had been housebound before and she’d be fine. I tried to point out the negatives. I gave up trying to convince her. I said we’d see how things were in a couple of days.
We started receiving regular update letters from the property management that basically said they were working on getting #1 fixed and they’d keep us posted. Every time we received a letter, I’d ask mom if she wanted to go to a hotel. The response was always “No!”
After a week, we were starting to run low on food. I pleaded with mom; asking her to reconsider. “No!” I had a job interview so I said I was going to go grocery shopping afterwards and carry up groceries. “Don’t be silly!” “Mom, we are running out of food.” So I went shopping. I sorted the groceries into perishable and non-perishable. The plan was to carry up the perishables and then go down the next day to carry up the non-perishables. I had two bags. I made it up 1 flight of stairs. I didn’t think I was going to make it. I heard footsteps coming down. I moved to the side to let the person pass. A voice asked “Do you need some help?” It was the new property manager. I said “Yes, but I’m on the 10th floor.” I started crying. He told me to give him my bags. I handed them to him and thanked him. We started walking up the stairs. I told him to keep going and I’d catch up. He refused. He stopped every time I did. When we made it to the 5th floor, he said we were at the point of no return. I said that the point of no return was actually on the first floor! We laughed and slowly made our way up. When we arrived at the 10th floor, he said that it hadn’t taken that long at all. I was gasping for breath and my legs were shaking. I thanked him and went into my apartment.
Mom looked at me and asked “Why did you do this?” I told mom that we needed food. I unpacked the bags, put everything away, and then collapsed on the couch. It took me about 10 minutes to begin to breathe normally again.
The next day, I walked down to the car to get the non-perishables. I opened the trunk and lifted each bag. Heavy. i was screwed. Just as I was debating what I could carry, a security guard walked by. He offered to carry up the bags for me. Thank god! We made it up 10 flights of stairs.
After that, I began going grocery shopping every other day. I would walk to the Co-op across the street and only buy what I could carry. Every once in a while, mom would say that I didn’t need to do this. Really? We needed food. I emailed property management about hotels – in case mom changed her mind. I asked what the process was and if they reimbursed us for meals and incidentals (parking and laundry). I never heard back from them.
We’d get update letters from property management that said they were working on the elevator and thanking us for our patience. As each letter came, I would ask mom if she wanted to go to a hotel. “No!”
Any time mom would talk on the phone, she’d say she was “housebound”. I’d roll my eyes. She wasn’t housebound. She had chosen to stay in the apartment. We could have gone to a hotel.
The update letters started announcing that #1 would be repaired by December 23rd. They would begin repairing #2 in early January. We laughed. Would we place bets that it would really be working by the 23rd?
We made plans for Christmas dinner – pending a working elevator. I asked Mom to make her hair appointment for December 24th – just in case.
Diary of a DOW 