Elevator Ladies (2004-08-28)
No job is more redundant and needless than "Elevator Ladies" in department stores. All these women do is to press the buttons in elevators so riders don't have to! Elevator ladies are always young, never bad-looking and wear full uniform including hats and gloves. They use very polite phrases to ask people which floors they want to go to and press the corresponding buttons while bowing and nodding. When an elevator lady brings the lift back to the ground floor, she immediately steps out of it and proudly announces to waiting customers that the lift is going up again by using one forearm to point upwards to confirm her statement.
Not all department stores have elevator ladies. To see these
ladies in action, just go to Daimaru Department Store in Tokyo,
Matsuzaka
Department Store in Ueno (
), or Isetan Department Store in
Kichijoji (
).
I'm a pretty lazy person but I don't need someone to press my button in an elevator. I want someone to breathe for me.
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