If you want to walk up/down the escalator, go to the left side of the escalator. If you feel no need to do any extra work when you're already moving, stand to the right. This will ensure easy movement and a simple flow of traffic, and much less frustration. This is particularly important at the Metro because a lot of the escalators going in and out of the Metro are really deep and take a little bit of time even to walk up/down, much less to stand there waiting for the escalator to kick you off.
I generally throw out a lot of "excuse me"s and "sorry" as I push past someone to my right who's bag or foot is too big to stay to the right with the rest of them, but I try to keep a good speed as I ascend or descend - if only so I don't have to feel like the guy behind me is hovering, cursing my sluggishness in the 'fast lane.'
The worst is when you're behind a few people on the left side, and your line is barely moving, despite the fact that this side is reserved for speed demons like yourself. And then the guy in the powersuit with the power shoes is suddenly behind you, willing you to push the people ahead of you out of the way, or to just step on and over them and their out-of-town sneakers and city maps.
I know I'm not the one slowing down the escalator's walking left side, but I can feel the laser beams shooting out from the guy's eyes, melting a hole in my coat. I can't see him, but I know the thoughts and emotions going through Mr. Powersuit's mind. I know them, because I think/feel them often in the mornings, when the laser beams are particularly difficult to control.
But then I have moments when I'm in no rush and have lots of time to make my way up/down the elevator - like I did today. The 1/2 day of work was awesome, but also meant that I would have a good 15 minute way for my connecting bus, so I slowed my pace and enjoyed the dark, dank metro for a few seconds longer.
More often than not, the Metros have escalators that they don't turn on - too many people trying to all make it upstairs for an escalator to only go down right in a prime location. So the Metro people turn off the escalator (or they're broken already, whichever is easier), and people swarm to make their way up.
Every once in a while (such as this afternoon), I get the urge to treat those stopped escalators as normal, working escalators, and let the escalator "move" me upstairs. I'd check my watch a few times, sigh a little, worry if I'll make my bus in time - all the normal concerns these escalators hear about on a daily basis. Today, I almost did walk onto the stopped escalator - on the right side - and just stood there, looking as though I expected it to start moving for me, in the direction I wanted it to. I smiled broadly to myself, giggling a little in the back of my throat, at the idea of getting on the escalator with tons of people all around me, and just standing there.
Then I decided I didn't want to get stompeded to death, so I continued walking.
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