Me Too!

When Isaac realized that full attention was brought to Nate's recent Titanic Dinner, he felt like his Cornell experience was not getting the necessary press. In the absence of new news, he suggested some old news. I think that it is worth recounting.

In the fall (yes, 2005), Isaac moved into a brand new dorm at Cornell - the Carl Becker House. It was a Saturday and Isaac was diligently studying and decided, as all college students do, to take a 10-15 minute break. And as all college students know, time relativity applies especially well to study breaks and 10-15 minutes easily becomes more. But, in this instance Isaac wasn't so much at fault.

He decided to start off his break with an elevator ride (I am not entirely sure of the lure, excepting that I am sure there are vending machines on the ground floor). In the elevator Isaac met another student and silently stood on the opposing side (for all of the chemists - people in elevators do obey Hund's Rule).

As usually happens, the elevator began to move. At some point in the descent, Isaac began to hear some suspect noises - he remembers banging and people screaming and then a jolting grind and then silence. Isaac and the anonymous man (AM) looked at each other and pressed the alarm button, holding it for approximately 30 seconds. No one came. Isaac then fulfilled a small lifetime dream - he called the campus police on the elevator phone and spoke to the campus police. They asked if anyone had any health issues, but Isaac said, "We're cool with this." A discussion ensued between Isaac and the AM. They had a discussion about farming; the AM told Isaac that he had an accent.

After twenty minutes, a voice was heard through the doors and finally the campus police pulled apart the doors with their special tools. Isaac then began a discussion with the campus police concerning their normal job functions such as planning escape routes for dignitaries and politicians into the great city of Ithaca. Well, when the doors were opened, there was one problem, Isaac and the AM were half-way between floors and the police wouldn't let them out for fear that they would climb out and the elevators would start moving. While the police searched for the elevator power switch, Isaac's friend, Ted, drawn by the excitement ran to get the camera. And we are left with the following. The AM is hiding in the picture and one of the policemen is in the foreground.



As they say, "An oldie, but a goodie."