Enter the elevator correctly — a small matter but not a small one

Lately, I've noticed a seemingly trivial thing that happens over and over again in every building, shopping center, and apartment building: the jostling in front of the elevator doors. People tried to get in when the door was just opened, and people inside struggled to find a way out. While thinking about this, I want to share with everyone some very simple principles that few people pay attention to. Hopefully after this article we will ride the elevator a little more "concernedly".

Basic rule: let everyone inside go out before entering

The problem is that when a group of people stands in the middle of the door and rushes in at the same time the person inside is trying to get out, both streams of people will collide, creating a blockage right in the middle of the elevator door - the narrowest, busiest place, and also where the elevator door can clip someone if someone stands there for too long. It's no coincidence that most handbooks on office etiquette in foreign countries rank "let everyone out before coming in" as the number one rule, mentioned before rules such as holding the door, giving up your seat, or not talking loudly on the phone. Simply because it is a prerequisite for the smooth operation of an elevator: you cannot "enter" a box without someone else having "exited" it, just as no one can pour water into a cup that is being filled without spilling both.

"Keep to the left" rule — creates two separate streams

This is the part that I think many people have never heard of, even though it is extremely logical. When the elevator door opens, instead of standing straight in the middle of the door waiting to confront the flow of people going out, people outside should slightly dodge to the left of the elevator door; And when stepping out, the person inside should also go to their left (ie the right for the person waiting, because the two sides look at each other, so one person's left is the other person's right). As a result, two streams naturally form, moving in parallel, without trampling, without collision - one stream out, one stream in, completely separate. This is not something made up for fun. In crowd physics, this phenomenon is called "lane formation" (the natural formation of lanes when two streams of people go in opposite directions in a narrow space): if each person has a consistent tendency to dodge to one side, the stream of people will organize themselves into parallel lanes without anyone commanding them, greatly reducing collisions and travel times. Studies on two-way flow of people in corridors and doorways show that when there are no clear conventions, the crowd easily falls into a "stuck" state of oscillating back and forth at the intersection - exactly the scene of jostling, standing still and looking at each other that we often see at elevator doors. On the contrary, just a simple convention — everyone moving in the same direction — is enough for the whole system to move from chaos to order.

Why do few people know this rule?

The reason is quite easy to understand. Residential elevators have become widely popular in Vietnam only in the past decade or two, along with the wave of high-rise apartments and commercial centers. It is a "young" public space compared to things like sidewalks, roads, lines at the market — things that have unwritten rules that have been passed down orally for generations. No one teaches children how to wait for the elevator the way people teach them to walk on the right side of the street. The school doesn't have any classes about this. And most importantly: there are no sanctions at all. If you interrupt when the elevator opens, no one will fine you, no camera will record it to handle it like running a red light. There are no immediate consequences, no one to remind them, bad habits continue to repeat, passed from person to person unconsciously, to the point where many people don't even realize they are doing wrong.

Unwritten rules need to be taught

In Germany, the Autobahn highway is famous for its very disciplined lane system: the right lane is for vehicles running at a steady speed, the left lane is only used for passing and must immediately return, absolutely do not "stick to the left lane" if you are not overtaking. This is a well-trained rule in driving schools, ingrained in the consciousness of Germans since they were new students holding the steering wheel. Escalators in many major cities around the world also operate in a similar spirit even though it is not an official rule. In London, the "stand on the right, walk on the left" convention originated with the design of the first escalator at Earl's Court tube station more than a century ago, and is still followed by millions of people every day despite never being written into law — it exists purely because it was passed down through community habits. Interestingly, in Japan (except the Kansai region), Singapore or Australia, the convention is the opposite — stand left, walk right — proving that the "side" rule itself is not as important as the fact that the whole community agrees on a convention and follows it consistently. What all of the above examples have in common is this: these unwritten rules don't come naturally. They need to be repeated, modeled by adults for children, gently reminded among friends and colleagues, until they become a natural reflex of the whole community. No one will punish you for getting into the elevator first, but community awareness is the most effective "rule" — as long as enough people practice it.

Conclude

This article is not intended to blame anyone, because I myself have unconsciously stood blocking elevator doors countless times before. It's just that when I understand the problem, I see that this is one of the easiest things to change and creates a big ripple effect: as long as you - one person - proactively step back, dodge to the left, let someone go first, others will look and follow. I hope everyone, after reading this, will pay a little attention the next time you take the elevator. It's a small thing, but if everyone did it, elevators everywhere would be lighter, more civilized and less "crowded".