In article <
[email protected]>,
andy gee <
[email protected]> wrote:
>"Rich Clark" <[email protected]> wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>> I run into this on a frequent basis. I don't want people holding doors
>> for me. They don't know where to stand, they get in the way, I can't
>> get through the door with my bike without bumping them or bumping
>> myself or my bike in an effort not to bump them. It's awkward.
>>
>> On the other hand, I know how to go through doors with my bike. I know
>> how to do it effortlessly and without help.
>>
>> So when someone tries to hold a door for me I just say "thanks, but
>> it'll be easier if you just go ahead."
>Here in New York, apartment buildings have _double_ doors. It's tough
>to get to the inner door before the outer door thwacks the rear wheel.
>Tough, but doable. So I can do it myself, but I appreciate anyone who
>holds the door. Especially when I'm coming in with the 'bent.
Airlock-style doors[1] get annoyingly complicated anytime you have to
get anything more than a small group of unladen people going in the same
direction through them. Usually it's simplest to just let anybody who's
carrying something or going the other way clear the airlock part before
you enter it (holding the outer door for them often helps if you're on
the outside side and can do that without getting in their way), but any
general rule you try to use will have cases where it makes things worse
instead of better.
The building I live in has an airlock that's just deep enough to get the
bike fully inside without turning it sideways, so I can just bring the
bike inside the airlock and let the outer door close while I'm fiddling
with the key to open the inner (locked) door. This is Rather Convenient,
as it makes it a lot easier to get through than it would be if I had to
get it through both doors at once or worry about getting it in the way
of the outer door closing.
(Going out is rather easier; just give the door a good push and I'm
through the next one before it closes enough to potentially be a problem.)
It's also wide enough for somebody to stand behind the door (either one)
and hold it, which is quite helpful when you're trying to get a bike
(or anything else) in or out, because you have a clear path through
the doorway (nobody in the way) and you don't need to worry about the
door yourself.
*
_/ _
| | (person at * holding door)
|* |
|_/ _|
It's rare that anybody actually does this, though. Usually they'll
stand *inside* the door you're trying to go through and try to hold it
open from there:
_/ _
| * |
| | (person at * holding door)
|_/ _|
*
This not only puts them in the doorway (and in your way), but it's also
harder to hold the door open this way, and it usually results in the
door being not quite as wide open. This has an annoying tendency to
make everybody's life harder instead of easier.
So the thing to do is hold the door from the *outside* whenever
positioning yourself to do so doesn't make life harder. If you're going
out and behind somebody (also going out) who's carrying something,
you can at least hold the door from behind them and not make things
worse by getting in their way, but it doesn't help all that much either.
(And, when you're the one carrying something, be ready to say "Thanks,
but it's easier if I get it myself".)
My point? I thought it was around here somewhere... yeah, that's it.
It's quite possible that the OP was making it harder for the other person
in a nonobvious way. It's also possible that the other person was so
used to people making it harder while trying to help that he declined
the assistance out of reflex. It's also possible that he was just being
oversensitive. And if you use your common sense and pay attention to
the nonobvious things (some of which I've pointed out above), you can
at least avoid the first of those next time.
dave
[1] Two doors (or two sets of double doors) arranged so that you have
to go through both of them to get in or out. Almost universally
both opening toward the outside (I think this is a fire code thing
- it's easier to get out in a hurry if you can open the doors by
pushing them).
("Double doors" is ambiguous for this - it can mean either two
single doors arranged airlock-style:
_/ _
| |
| |
|_/ _|
or two doors side-by-side:
__/ \__
while "airlock-style", while perhaps not a commonly used term,
is readily understood by most people and rather less ambiguous.)
--
Dave Vandervies
[email protected]
> What should such a standard mandate for systems which don't use
> directories, such as OS390? --Richard Heathfield and
A well-engineered fake. Chris Dollin in comp.lang.c
) ) and the etiquette of getting through doors is always a challenge.