Monday, July 16, 2012

Such Great Heights

I was walking downtown Minneapolis with a friend. It was the weekend and we were wandering through the skyways. Minneapolis has a lot to offer as far as indoor walking is concerned. There are miles upon miles of skyways to explore.

We were walking through one of the incredibly tall buildings, and I asked my friend if he wanted to see the view from the top of the building. I wasn't sure if going to the top of an empty office building was allowed, but as we walked past the security guard, he just smiled and said hello.

We made it to the elevators and smashed the up arrow. The doors opened and we stepped on. We hit the lowest floor available on that particular elevator. Level 45. That should be good, right?

The doors closed and my heart met my bowels. I have never experienced an elevator reaching speeds comparable to NASA's Explorer shuttle taking off. We got off on the 35th floor in a matter of seconds both of us swaying with dizziness.

What we found was several hallways leading to doors of offices and conference rooms. We could barely see through the windows and felt rather cheated by the staggering heights we had reached.

"Well. Shall we go down?"

We smash the down arrow. While we waited for the car I looked at Justin and asked if he'd rather take the stairs. "Kinda..."

"Going down" said the elevator.

"Well, since it's already here..."

We stepped on and my heart met my throat. I was convinced I had stepped on a death drop headed straight for Dante's ninth level of hell. When the doors opened again, one could have witnessed two quivering boys curled up in respective corners of the elevator, begging the carny to let them off. Thankfully, it was a weekend and people don't frequent their offices at that time. Dignity spared.

The rest of the day was spent in the safety of window shopping from the skyway. I will forever leave high speed elevators to those who need cheap thrills on their way to work.

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