Ladies First

I have noticed that younger female executives and assistants are not too keen on the ladies first order of things. I pointed out to one of my co-workers recently that I think it makes for order when boarding and getting off an elevator or entering boardrooms or offices.

I appreciate it especially when there is a group of people gathered at the elevator waiting for the one door to open. It is nice to allow the ladies to enter first and then the men enter. There is the odd time a man will go ahead of everyone and not respect that order and I find that annoying as it disrupts what was an orderly flow. Maybe we need a better etiquette so it won't be a male/female thing, but for now it works.

Who goes first?

We were joking at the office the other day about elevator etiquette and who should go first. One person suggested that the tallest should go first. This person is over 6 feet.

Someone else suggested it should be the oldest who goes first. I laughed and said, "Then nobody would want to get on the elevator". I would say, "You go first". Then the next person would say, "No, you go first". Then someone else would say, "I insist, you go first", and another person would say, “I won't hear of it, please you go first". Nobody would want to go first and admit they were the oldest.