To think that anyone can use the lifts?

[MyPlumNewt]

I’ve just been shouted at by a lady in a wheelchair and told I’m “holding up” the queue by queuing to use the lift. And then she kept shouting at me saying only disabled people or people with prams should use the lifts. AIBU to think that anyone can use the lifts if they want and not only disabled people or people with prams? I wasn’t jumping in the queue either, I was just waiting in the queue normally. The queue had 6 people in.

Technically lifts are for everyone. But I was always taught as a child that as an able bodied person I should leave the space in them for people with no other option. As a result we only got in a lift if there was no one else waiting for it.

Which seems fair to me. I taught my DC the same.

I've read this exact same thread before??

Where did it say she was old?

Actually it does. Many lifts have a maximum number of people allowed.

I use a lift because of disability, but if the lift is busy or there are a lot of people waiting to use it, my husband will use the steps and meet me on the floor. The lift isn't always quicker so it's not saving him time and he's happy to bump up his step count.

However, while he was recovering from major surgery some years back, he used lifts a lot. He looked fit enough for the stairs, but he really wasn't and if anyone had accosted him, they'd have had a piece of my mind and advice on the value of minding their own business. When you don't know what's going on in other people's lives (even if you think otherwise) it's best to keep your opinion to yourself.

Lifts are for everyone. Some people are scared of the escalators etc

Everyone has to queue and wait their turn disabled or not.

I was told off for using the lift at the hospital last week. I was walking with my stick (I do also use a wheelchair at times). I was only going up one floor but the man in the lift who was probably twice as old as me was going up 10 he told me 'there are stairs you know', 'lifts are for going to the top or those in wheelchairs or beds not for the lazy' and 'you'll get fat not using the stairs' (I'm a size 6). Although I wasn't going to that department that floor had cardiology on it for all he knew I could have had a cardiac problem that meant I couldn't use the stairs. I pointed to my stick and said I'd struggle with the stairs and that falling would cause the staff a lot of work.
As a disabled person I have no choice but to use lifts, I would never judge why anyone was using the lift, everyone has the right to do so.

I will congratulate you. You are my hero.

then you may never ever get in that lift tho. A person with no bags standing takes up very little room

It is inconsiderate, unless you have a massive drip feed like you only have half a leg or you were carrying 75 very heavy boxes or you get vertigo on the stairs.

If there is someone who needs the lift where as you just felt a bit CBA why wouldn't you just be considerate and use the stairs/escalator.

Tell someone in a wheelchair to jog on? I would like to see how well that is received

Clearly this woman should not have shouted at you or judged from face value that you could use the stairs or escalator.

As others have said, just because you can use the lifts doesn’t mean you should. People in wheelchairs or otherwise disabled have one option to get around, the lifts. People who are not disabled have possibly three options, two of which don’t require waiting in a queue or making the lives of disabled people a bit more annoying.

The question is why you’d choose to use the lift in a shopping centre that was busy enough for there to be a queue for that lift. Seems like an odd decision to me.

If you're able bodied but unfit then you should probably take the stairs. I personally don't see the point in waiting for a lift when stairs are an option, especially if there was a disabled person behind me.

Many people here are assuming OP has a hidden disability. OP has not said that is the case and no one has disputed they would be in their right to use the elevator in that case. The truth is anyone can/is entitled to use an elevator in a public space, but it is extremely lazy and entitled to use an elevator when there are other alternatives (particularly if escalators are available) if you don’t have a wheelchair, relevant disability or a baby/pram.

This thread actually highlights the selfish attitude some people have, they take for granted their own 'rights' regardless of others people who may be needier.
What happened to plain old fashioned kindness and consideration?

Definitely an unfortunate choice of words.

Until recently when I finally had an iron infusion, I would have struggled badly walking up a flight of stairs due to severe iron deficiency. Just walking on the flat would have had me out of breath with a sky high heart rate. From the outside, I looked pretty healthy but that wasn’t the case.

My mum looks well but has Parkinson’s disease and drags one foot, which is worse when she’s tired. We always take the lift, even if it’s only one floor.

It’s not always obvious why someone may not be able to manage the stairs.

Like a PP I was always taught to use the stairs as I am able and leave the lifts for those who need them. I still do it now(obviously there are some places where there is no option) and have taught my kids the same.

Having said that she shouldn’t have said anything because she has no idea why you might be using the lift. DH is for and healthy but has knee issues and if they are playing up then he will occasionally use the lift, the rest of us use the stairs and it’s usually faster!

SIBU because you might have an invisible disability or any number of legitimate reasons to want to use the lift.

However I do personally think it is inconsiderate to use a lift when there are people queueing if you have no need of it, because it is annoying to have to wait in a queue when you have no choice but to use the lift. I tend to use this reasoning with my children to explain why we should use the stairs/escalator instead. If there are plenty of lifts or less demand for it so we wouldn't hold anybody up, then no problem. But I can think of a few places in particular where there are not enough lifts for the demand and it was always very stressful trying to navigate those places with a buggy.

There are lots of not-so-visible reasons why someone might use the lift instead of stairs. Not my business!

I don't think anyone has actually assumed, but a few people have pointed out that the lady was assuming OP is able-bodied and she didn't actually know whether that was the case.

She was rude to shout at you because she doesn’t know if you have a hidden disability. And you do have the right to use the lift.

But I would always let anyone who clearly needed the lift more than I did in first, rather than queuing for it in order of who go there first. They literally have no other option whereas I am being lazy.

Anyone can, unless there’s signage to say otherwise but I hardly ever do personally because I hate lifts! I particularly don’t understand why anyone would use the lift to go down if they didn’t need to

I’m going to be pedantic here for a minute, but I have used logical inference in my statement. No one has outright stated “I assume you have a hidden disability” and a few people have stated “she shouldn’t have said that as she doesn’t know if you have a hidden disability”. Meanwhile, many PP have instead just answered as if OP had a hidden disability (which is a fair inference since they are using the hidden disability argument as a/the rationale supporting/justifying able-looking people, including the OP, to get on an elevator at a public space). The question OP asked was “AIBU to think that anyone can use the lifts if they want and not only disabled people or people with prams?” not “was the lady AIBU for shouting at me?” These PPs are talking about how they/someone they know has an invisible disability that makes them take the elevator and/or talking smack about the lady who (wrongly) shouted at OP, but that is irrelevant since for all we know OP is able-bodied, in which case, in my opinion, she’s BU when using the elevator regardless.