In my two and a half years at NYU, there has been a huge controversy among students that I can not seem to get away from: Elevator Etiquette. For those of you who don't know, "Elevator Etiquette" has to do with pressing the buttons for consecutive floors in crowded elevators. Basically, if you get into an elevator full of people and you are going to the 10th floor, but the button for the 11th or 9th (or both) floors has already been pushed, you should go to one of those floors and take the stairs up or down to where you're going. This saves energy, and a few seconds of the people in the elevator's time. It's essentially a demonstration of one's consideration of other students. However, in my time at NYU, Elevator Etiquette has become more of a problem than a polite gesture. It's gotten to the point where I'm genuinely scared to get into an elevator sometimes! So many students at NYU have become Elevator Etiquette Enforcers by self-appointment. I've heard students audibly sigh if someone pushes the button for a floor below the 5th floor, or even look the perpetrator in the eye and say something along the lines of, "Really?" It's gotten so bad, that there was even a fight surrounding the topic in the Facebook group of my residence hall last year. Someone politely posted that she suffered from an invisible disability that sometimes made it difficult for her to walk even one flight of stairs, and encouraged other residents not to be so quick to judge or be angry when someone broke the oh-so-sacred rules of Elevator Etiquette. People responded with some of the rudest comments I've ever heard. And it's come to this: we all pay tuition to come to this school. We pay to live in the residence halls. (Most of) the elevators in NYU buildings are big and fast. Stopping at an extra floor takes about 10 seconds. Why can't we all just get along while we take the elevator?! Well, apparently we can. This semester, I'm living in Palladium. There are 16 (I think?) floors, and 4 very efficient elevators. I live on the 12th floor, which by Elevator Etiquette Enforcer standards, is acceptably reached by elevator. But I haven't faced any elevator rage here. In fact, people are pleasantly and unexpectedly kind on the elevators! The other day I got into an elevator with one other person. We didn't say anything to each other as we got on and pushed the buttons for our respective floors. All I remember is that his floor was below mine. As the doors opened and he stepped out, he turned to me and said, "Enjoy rest of your day." By habit, I just looked up, smiled, and said, "You too!" and he was gone. But as the elevator doors closed, I realized what had just happened. A stranger in the elevator genuinely wished me a nice day. If I could go back, I would have said, "Thank you so much! Please enjoy the rest of your day, as well. You are a lovely person!" But alas, I did not. I do hope that person knows, however, that I did enjoy the rest of my day, and it was all because of his kindness in the elevator. This is the kind of behavior we should be preaching as the all-holy Elevator Etiquette! A smile or a kind word goes a long way. And at a University like NYU where everyone complains that there is no community and people only look out for themselves, it's nice to show a little compassion and consideration sometimes. NOT by alienation each other on the elevator just for pushing a button. Take a deep breath, enjoy the privilege of having an elevator at all, and accept that people will use it! I now make it a point to follow very strict Elevator Etiquette: smiling and saying hello, offering to push the button for someone's floor if they have a lot in their hands, and most definitely not having any sort of hostile reaction in response to the chosen floors. And let me tell you, there is such a thing as Elevator Karma. I think we all need to re-evaluate our definition of Elevator Etiquette, and start being kinder to one another--in the elevator, and out of it.