The Hungarian need for conversation in elevators

As much as I enjoy the lack of physical activity that elevators afford me, the struggle that is elevator etiquette sort of makes up for it. Coming from a different culture, there are certain peculiarities about this culture that are baffling, one of them being the topic of this article.

Now, before you announce me anti-social, please, refer to this article by The New Yorker. I do not have problems conversing with strangers (I do), I have a problem with talking in the elevator, more specifically, talking to people you have never met in the elevator. We have never met, we will probably never meet again, I am late, you have places to be, you are on the second floor in the Dutch department, I am on the 4th floor in the English Department, we are not the same, so why is it necessary to exchange pleasantries and have an innate conversation about the weather? I am sorry, are we in Britain?

No, we are in Hungary, where we wear black (Shameless Plug) because we are morbid like the weather and hate being approached. So, why are elevators the focal point of all my scorn and all your conversations? I was not sure what the right elevator etiquette was, I wanted to be sure if I was right or not, I was, so I googled it (it’s been a slow week), and it states distinctly in this The New Yorker article, as well as in Part 2: Step 1 and 2 of the WikiHow page that you are only supposed to talk to people when they know you already, outside the elevator.

And I get it, a conversation is how you make friends, and we are all starved for intimacy, but this elevator exchange is not actually leading to friendships or even a loose acquaintance. That person you just met? You are probably never going to see them again, I am sorry, but they are lost forever.

So, the one time you met a hot person in the elevator that said hello to you, chances are, if they are Hungarian, they were just being nice and not at all interested.

Nice is good, nice is just peachy, but how do you distinguish between nice and genuine, especially since that elevator is so fast it literally lasts all of 5 seconds? Here is another reason for the boomers to dislike technology: we are not making “connections” in elevators anymore. It is funny, but as a non-native, these small things can be really confusing. I am not saying there is anything wrong with anything. Start a conversation, do not start a conversation, just do not put too much stress on it.

Ride it out. It is an elevator.

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