Here’s a genuine question for you – mostly ladies, but gents, too, if you have an opinion.
My law firm is way up high in my building – 20+ floors up. So a couple times a week I want to put on my sneaks, then start at the bottom and walk up. We had to give up the gym membership as part of our everlasting struggle to balance the budget, so I’m looking for alternatives besides taking a jog outside and then having a sponge bath in my workplace bathroom (never as effective as a full shower, BTW, grooooosss but my cardiovascular health is important) (I always wait til after 2, so as to have minimum post-stinky-sponge-bath time at my desk).
I haven’t done this yet because our building is “secure” for whatever reason, and my security pass only gets me into my own floor. So between the bottom and the top, I’m stuck – I either gotta go up or down to get out.
So . . . . I’m not worried about a heart attack or anything – if I get to floor 11 and I’m dying, I can always rest a bit and then go back down and take the elevator up. However, in terms of the threat of some kind of assault by an assailant lying in wait . . . what’s my chances? Is this completely foolish, to wall myself off in a locked stairwell with no chance to get out if I encounter someone with unwholesome designs? (Locked, but well lit stairwell with very wide steps and security cameras?) Or am I exchanging a sure risk (lack of exercise/swivel chair spread) for a totally outside paranoid risk (the minimal chances that someone who is a rapist will actually happen to be in one of the four stairwells at the same time as me on a random midweek day, especially if I don’t do it at a regular time/day/corner of the building). Could I mitigate the latter in a satisfactory way – i.e. carry pepper spray, notify the girls at work that I’m going and to check on me, seeing if my cell phone works in there, or (ideally) get a group to go with me?
I was really jazzed about doing it last week, but then a handyman I don’t recognize with a hammer on his tool belt caught my eye, and I thought – am I being really dumb here? Not all men are threats to me, yes I know – but yes all women . . . I don’t approach all individual men as threats but I do have to live my life in the real practical world where a small handful of men are indeed threats to every woman they encounter. Such men would totally dig a lady locked up in a place with escape many steps away. I grew up post-Central Park jogger . . . perhaps I’m just being paranoid? Anyone have thoughts?
Can you ask the building owners for security stats to find out if there ever are attacks in the stairwells/how often? To be honest, it sounds a tiny bit paranoid to me, but it’s also perfectly sensible and I may just not have that particular concern-trigger activated (I guess I also think someone isn’t likely to assault someone in the same building that they work in – though I suppose criminals can be totally dumb – and that most people won’t realize which floor your card works on – that is, they won’t know how trapped you are). I would think bringing your phone with 911 on speed dial would work (if phone reception), and certainly getting even one other person to go with you, you’d be totally fine.
Yes, it also sounds a little paranoid to me. Check to see if there’s phone reception–if so, that would be enough for me to feel that I could get help in the event of something unsavory. But honestly, the creeps and rapists go where the women are, and since practically no one ever goes into an office building stairwell, they’re not likely to be there. You’re more likely to meet some skeeze at the gym who chats you up and then follows you to the parking lot.
A safety suggestion, but not from the worry of an assailant, but one of — what if you twisted your ankle halfway or more commonly experienced, had a bad leg cramp or some other temporary body inconvenience or malfunction that was a semi-emergency situation? A suggestion is to talk with your business manager, office director, or whatever this person is called in your firm to find out 1) who is the fire marshall person appointed for your floor 2) what are the plans for accessing another floor should it be needed 3) does that person or another have a master floor stairwell key or a duplicate that is able to be borrowed during your walks 4) or talk to your building super about your plans and ask the same questions (and more) to find out what she/he suggests to have a backup safety plan. Taking a cell phone and/or buddy with you is great… but still, best to get some thoughts/input of others who know more of the access & safety aspects of the building stairwells and can suggest how you can work your plan safely. For all kinds of reasons.
I wouldn’t do it. I don’t like the idea of putting yourself in a situation where you have limited options. Probably nothing would happen, but it just doesn’t seem worth it to me. There are other ways to get your exercise. I think you need to listen to your gut. If you feel a niggling worry, pay attention to it. You wouldn’t enjoy the workout if you feel uneasy anyways.
This would make me uneasy too — it’s unlikely that people just lurk in the stairwells, but someone might notice if you were there on a regular basis. I have had multiple creepy encounters with strange men who told me they knew my usual route to work/school/home. Can you just go for a brisk walk outside? Are there any hills or outdoor steps to climb near your work?
Thank you all for your responses!! It does help getting some outside views.
There are no hills here . . . this area of the country is flat as a pancake, a great place to run a marathon! And I do run outside a lot, but any good exercise routine needs some variety and that’s what I’m seeking here – something a little different to get me jazzed. I would do this in a heartbeat if it weren’t for the locked doors, but being locked out gives me the willies. I think I’ll just recruit a team to run stairs with me, and decline to go if they don’t come along. As for getting help from the building – unfortunately our building is ridiculous, zero tolerance, no common sense kind of place. You need a badge to use the elevator and a badge to get your car in and out of the garage. One night, a coworker who had stayed late left her badge upstairs and when she got to the garage gate, she explained to security that she’d left it and could they please let her out. They wouldn’t. And she couldn’t go upstairs to get her badge bc she needed it to get upstairs. So at midnight she had to call around to coworkers until she found someone who would wake up and drive over here to badge her up to our floor and get her own badge. Very, very ridiculous.
Wow, that is something I never would have even thought of. I would probably bring some mace with me and call it good (or just not worry about it but I’m probably laid back to a fault).