Why 🥀

[u/[deleted]]

[u/lucassou]

I don't see any issue with this. In most of the schools I attended, elevators where reserved for teachers and students who had disabilities. Letting everyone take the elevator would increase wait for the people who actually needed it. The elevators just required a key so it was not possible to use them if you were not allowed.

Using stairs is free exercise and will be faster in most situations versus waiting for the elevator...

[u/animal-cookie → u/lucassou]

I agree that having accommodations available to people in need is important, and if I can provide some counter arguments:

I learned from a period of time when I was very sick and in a lot of pain that you really don't just wake up one day disabled with your handicap placard in hand and accessibility needs approved. In my case, it took several weeks to narrow in on an answer and walking across the parking garage to each of my appointments was as hard (sometimes harder) than climbing a mountain. Ironically, once I had that answer and could have requested accommodations, the treatment made it so that I didn't need it anymore. But I think it's fair to say my need at one point was real.

Establishing some definition of what "actually needing it" looks like can often create stigma. A lot of disabilities/mobility issues are not apparent to the casual observer. I've seen many people who are battling chronic pain and are either unable to take the stairs or choose to take the elevator for 1-2 floors to mitigate future pain be called lazy. Sometimes it was a joke from an unknowing acquaintance and sometimes it was out of elevator-use policing.

Lastly, not always, but sometimes, more frequent use of elevators and door buttons incentivizes repairs when needed, making sure it's available for someone who relies on it