I had a dream about an elevator last night. It was one of those freight elevators with a large sliding outer door, plus an expandable screen door. When I approached, the two doors were open and the elevator space was jammed with people as in a sardine can. There was no room for me, and there was no desire on the faces of the folks crammed together to make room either. I pondered that dream all day as I ventured through one type of portal after another.
In our city we have an old-fashioned elevator like the one in my dream. It was part of a marine museum that has closed down. A door on a travelling closet, what an idea! I think of Dr. Who’s Tardis or C.S.Lewis’s children’s series, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. In stage plays, the indoor scenes have doors leading our imaginations elsewhere: Walk through and the performers might find themselves out-of-doors. The original Wizard of Oz movie, had a scene that once made viewers gasp in delight as they were transported from black&white cinematography to full technicolour. Actress Gwenyth Paltrow, in the film Sliding Doors, plays a character who is confronted with the consequences of choosing (or not) to step into a subway car. Actors Robbie & Farrell go on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey through doors to their past, while taking us along for the ride.
They say the eyes are the doorway to a person’s soul. Cliché-wise that may be an open-and-shut case but I wonder if that makes the eyelids into doors of skin. Ewww! Scarier still, our eyes, held wide open, can suggest a vacancy as in, “You’re dead to me!” My favourite door is a castle’s portcullis, more like a vertical closing gate, but one which keeps out marauders while still giving a view of the countryside. Doorways are metaphorically about choices: We can hold a door for someone who follows, put our foot out to stop it from closing, or place a welcome mat at the doorstep as an invitation to all who have travelled thus far. It’s doubtful that anyone still carries their bride/groom/partner over the threshold of their abode after getting hitched. Although some still might mark their front door with symbols of protection or guidance. A boss may say his/her/their door is “always open.” But that begs the question of why there is even a door there in the first place.
I’ve always thought it would be cool to be an elevator doorman. I can imagine myself assisting folks as they navigate the vertical highway, “What floor please?”. Most folks want the elevator experience to be over as quickly as possible. They’ll engage with their cell phones or stare intently at the floor indicator over the door. When I was a condo superintendent I enjoyed the reaction I got when I asked fellow Otis riding travellers a few questions or made astute observations while on the way to the lobby. That’s me, always trying to open the door to conversation.
Catch My Drift? 