Going Down

The elevator features a small television display on the front wall next to the doors. Instead of the usual news stream or local ads, the screen displays a river in the woods. How soothing. Oh no wait: there’s an inset of CNBC’s hyperactive scrolling bars and news stream. Of course, since it’s an inset in a small screen, you can’t actually read the news, so that’s useless. And on closer examination, the river that is supposed to counteract the hustle and bustle of your day (just amped up another notch by the CNBC broadcast in your one minute oasis of elevator calm), is weirdly still. Ah. It’s not a running river. It’s a photo. I guess they broke the bank with that CNBC subscription and had to cut out the nature stream. I am not soothed. I’m getting a little weirded out…

I look closer. In the lower left corner the screen states in white letters, “Tuesday,” and in the lower right, “2/13/01.” Let’s begin with it’s Thursday, and close with what the hell is going on? The fixed river. The tiny news. The wrong date. Wait a second… This isn’t half-assed. This is sinister. Now I’m definitely weirded out.