Entitlement Trap

 Good morning.

 Most of the time we go about our days, and everything works normally, as planned.  And then there are the other times.  Most of these “other” times are first world issues, I will readily admit.  Even so, sometimes things just seem to be a bit weird.

Case in point.  Yesterday, I went to Wesley hospital to visit a fellow church member who had been there for a day or two.  I know my way around Wesley, and mostly know how to navigate the sometimes complex hallways and buildings that comprise the campus.  So a visit like this was nothing unusual.

I managed to find a parking spot not far from the southeast entrance.  It involved parallel parking, which I practiced long years ago and can still do reasonably well.  I managed to put my little Ranger into the spot and went into the building.  The patient was in building 4, so I made my way to those elevators.

Someone had already pushed the “UP” button, so we just waited for a car to appear on the first floor.  After a minute or so, one became available.  Three of us went into the car.  A woman pushed the “6” button.  A man pushed the “10” button.  I asked for 8 to be pushed, which the woman did for me.  All of the buttons lit up properly.

The door closed, and we started up.  When floor six came, the car stopped.  The door opened, and the woman left.  The car resumed it’s trip up to the eighth floor.  The car stopped, the ‘8” button light went out, and the door opened.  I left the car and went toward the patient rooms.

Looking at the room numbers, I was confused at first.  Room numbers in building four begin with the number of the floor they are on.  The room numbers all began with a 7.  I went to the nurses desk and asked if I was on the 7^th floor instead of the 8^th.  She confirmed.  I told her I know that I thought the elevator had let me off on the wrong floor.  She said that things had been a little strange all day.  The phones went out for awhile.  Her computer was acting up.  I wondered if whatever was happening with other electronic equipment may have affected the elevators as well.

Now, you might tell me that I was just mistaken…that the 7^th floor button was also lit and the elevator just naturally stopped there first before going on up to the eighth floor.  Or perhaps someone was waiting for a car on the 7^th floor and pushed the button on the outside of the elevator.

I will agree that while it’s possible someone on the outside had pushed the button asking for an elevator on the 7^th floor, no one was there to get in when the door opened.  Additionally, the 8^th floor button light went out when the car arrived at the 7^th floor.  And I know that the 7^th floor button inside the elevator was never lit.  Putting two and two together, I will always, I think, believe the elevator car stopped on the 7^th floor, thinking for some reason it was the 8^th floor.

Well, after my visit with the woman at the nurse desk, I wondered if I really wanted to get back into an elevator that didn’t know what floor it was stopping on.  I readily would have taken the stairs if I had known where the stairs were.  I didn’t, however, so I called for an elevator car, got in, pushed the 8^th floor button, and hoped for the best.  This time, it did deliver me to the 8^th floor, and I was able to complete the visit.

The way back down was uneventful.  I was with two other people, both employees.  I figured if they were willing to trust the elevator, I could too.  We made it to the first floor without incident.  Not the 2^nd floor.  Not the basement.  The first floor.

Now, all of this, if one will step back and look at it as I said at the beginning, is a first world issue.  The vast majority of people in the world today have never seen an elevator.  They’ve never been to a hospital such as Wesley.  They don’t have the transportation to get to a hospital even if one is nearby.  They have no money or insurance to pay for health care, even if health care is available, which is a tenuous proposition in many parts of the world.

Yes, I could complain about the elevator not providing me the service I requested.  But doesn’t that seem rather petty when considering the plight of most of the world’s population?  I am reminded of Job in the Bible, how, when everything he owned and had was taken from him in the first chapter of the book, his wealth, his family…all were taken from him…even then he fell to the ground and worshipped the God he served saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Be careful during those times when you feel like complaining and griping about something that has happened to you that you think was unfair or not deserved.  Falling into the entitlement trap is a dangerous place where you don’t want to be.

 

Blessings,