<font color="ff0000">THE (RETURN OF) THE WRATH OF ELEVATORS/ESCALATORS</font>: TOday we took Isaac and maid to Paragon to shop...I can't believe after taking the lift a few times with us, my maid still doesn't know how to differentiate the OPEN and CLOSE buttons. We had told her several times to hold the door open for baby & us first before stepping into the lift herself, but she just doesn't get the sequence right.
Guess what? This morning, she happily followed me and stepped into the lift first, ditching Sir & baby outside. Inside the lift, she pressed the DOOR CLOSE button and crushed my DH and baby in his arms! I yelled at her at the top of my voice (the neightbours must hv wondered what happened!) and scolded her for pressing the wrong button! THANK THE LORD my DH's shoulders are broad enough, otherwise the baby's skull will be protruding beyond the breadth of his shoulders and get banged by the closing lift doors!
She was trembling with fear as I lambasted her in fury for such a reckless act!
Then we decided to train her again at those Paragon lifts, but she JUST wouldn't get the sequence right. She never seems to remember holding the lift doors open for her employers...
Right. That is the lift for u.
Then, those fearsome escalators are back to haunt her after the Vivo accident 2 weeks ago...I really didn't know she is afraid of escalators until today! At one juncture, she had to push the P3 UP the escalator...I thot of lending her a helping hand (cos I know P3 is heavy for a woman) by grabbing the front bar and stablising it onto the first moving step for my maid.
Assuming that Ma'am wld drag the stroller to safety when it reached the top, she happily let go of the stroller's handles and left the P3 to be transported to the top on its own. All this while I was facing upwards and didn't notice she had already released my P3. It was only when I stepped off the escalator at the top that I saw that she didn't hv both hands on my P3 but on the escalaor railings!!!!
That means, the P3's front wheels were just left to rub against the edge of the topmost moving step (if u can imagine what I'm trying to describe here!). Upon seeing that, I quickly grabbed the front bar and 'rescued' my P3 to safety so that other commuters behind could get off the escalators!
I was quite mad at her and chided her (yep, cant yell at maids at a place like Paragon) for blocking the way and for not holding on to the P3.
Anyway, I decided to train her again by asking her to move up to the next level one more time, but this time I watched over her and gave her a verbal cue, "OK, we're reaching the top soon, watch the step, OK, 123, NOW PUSH!" and push she did, and the P3 glided smoothly onto the next level landing.
As my DH was actually shopping with Isaac downstairs, I thot why not train her to do it DOWN the escalator as well. At the top of the escalator, I instructed her to push the P3 onto the next moving step such that the BACK wheels rest on that step while the front wheels are suspended in mid-air as the front steps open up.
My goodness! My maid was trembling in fear with her eyes welled with tears! She told me "No No Ma'am!" It was soooooo embarrassing for me cos many tai-tais & parents with todds in tow were waiting for this zombified maid to get off the way from the escalator! I had to pull her aside and let others board the escalators first before trying to get her to board it with me again.
Little did I know when I stepped onto the down-going escalator, my maid freaked out at the last minute and remained frozen at the top!!! I turned around and glared at her for not following closely behind me!
She then patted her own chest to signal to me she was F**king scared (pardon my language cos I really buaytahan) of the "Abominable Invention of the 19th century"! I was gritting my teeth and went round looking for my DH at Level 4 first.
Then together we went back up to Level 5 again to meet her, who was still standing at the start of the escalator like a goondu. She was sooooo scared and begged me not to let her do it again!
Ladies, that was at Level 5 (KIDS 21, SUSHI TEI) where a full lunch crowd at an open-space cafe facing the escalators was bemused by this maid who was contemplating whether to ride or not to ride on the escalator! What a laughing stock. Then my DH asked her to fold up the P3 as we assumed it'd easier for her to place a standing stroller on the step.
To our astonishment, she STILL couldn't bring herself to ride on the escalator with the "standable" and "flatter" stroller. We were stunned to see her lift up and carry the 8.5kg P3 to ride on the down-going escalator. What an odd sight to lug bulky strollers under your arms when u can push them?!!!!!!!
Anyway, we spared her from her phobia and used the lifts to access the diff levels afterwards.
I can only conclude it wasn't my P3 that she couldn't handle. Rather, it was her phobia for escalators and elevators. At Spaggedies, I had to draw the DOOR OPEN (<>) and DOOR CLOSE (><) icons for her at Paragon and made her commit them to memory!
STILL, this maid still couldn't get it. When we reached home just now, she absent-mindedly stepped out of the lift first and didn't press the button to hold the door for baby and us. So the lift door SHUT in our face!!! My DH and I were dumbfounded! I had to press the internal buttons to re-open the lift door for ourselves. When we stepped out of the lift, we asked her why she didn't hold the lift door as we've instructed her umpteen times at Paragon just now.
She replied, "Sir, this button is GO DOWN" *FAINTZZZZZZZZZZ*. OF COURSE it's either UP or DOWN buttons on the outside of the lift! U only need to press one of the two buttons to hold the lift doors open for the rest of the people to get off lah! ISN'T THIS UNIVERSAL??????
Maybe the malls shd hv separate escalators for strollers like this supermarket...
Or maybe I should buy a treadmill to train her?
I'm fed up...and therefore I am mean. Can Manila be that backward?