Escalators must be different over in the mainland. I frequently watch Chinese tourists stepping gingerly onto them as though afraid of being swept away. Along with moving more slowly in China, escalators over there apparently work differently; it appears that some escalators only produce a limited number of steps.
At least that was the explanation that I came up with for what happened today. I was about to step onto the moving stair conveying machine when a woman barged in front of me. This is not a rare thing to happen when you share lunch hours with several million people on a small island. But then the woman stopped moving. I tried to walk around her but she had her arm outstretched and was bending with her ass out to block me like some ladies do when trying to herd children ahead of you to a train seat rather than simply saying, "excuse me."
I immediately looked down for a kid, but there was none. Then, three other women finally scurried over and they all got on, blocking the left side where where people usually walk. Of course. I was left standing behind them, bewildered. What was that lady doing? Saving stairs? I wanted to tap her on the shoulder and explain that escalator stairs are a renewing resource; they never run out. Escalators are magic like that.
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