Vignette: Two Guys Who Have Had Their Ups and Downs of Late: Meet Lift Operators Dave and Joe

Feature Photo: In a rare moment, Dave (left) and Joe (right) pose at their stations before the next wave of workers arrive.

Without the lift operators, the job site would come to a crawl. Like most people, they have their ups and downs. The lift operators on the Loma Linda construction site know they will begin the day on the upswing, and they know the day will end on the downswing. They also know the rest of the day will be filled with many ups and downs. To top it off they will have a lot of starts and stops. After having had the privilege of witnessing a lift operator at work yea these many months, I have made up my own list of 26 prerequisites that any good lift operator must have:

A Good Lift Operator Must Have:

1. A good sense of humor.
2. A good sense of direction (at least they should know up from down).
3. The ability to like People.
4. An ability to anticipate i.e. when on the ground floor: A lift operator must be able to anticipate that the rider will want to go up. It goes without saying that when a rider steps on the lift on the top floor, the opposite is true.
5. A Healthy Bladder!
6. Immunity from colds, viruses, and all strains of the flu going back to at least the mid 1950s.
7. The ability to suffer without complaint all in-climate weather known to man.
8. The ability to direct traffic in and out of the lift.
9. The ability to be friendly.
10. The ability to be accommodating.
11. The ability to listen but not repeat what you hear other than to repeat a floor number if need be.
12. The ability to remember numbers especially the floor numbers sequentially. This requirement is the same for going up and going down.
13. The ability to remember numbers especially the floor number in the order a laborer wants to get on
14. The ability to be sequential in both directions.
15. The ability to be tolerant of body oder after 10 AM
16. The ability to be tolerant: PERIOD!
17. The ability to be assuming: If a person or persons get on the lift on the ground floor, the lift operator must assume that their guest(s) will want to go up. It Goes without saying that when someone steps on the lift on the top floor, the opposite is true.
18. The ability to eat pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds and operate the lift at the same time.
19. The ability to sort out a series of numbers in a chronological order.
20. The ability not to get motion sickness.
21. The ability not to be afraid of heights.
22. The ability to hold ones tongue.
23. The ability to smile.
24. The ability to work in a confined space.
25.  
26. The ability to express a pun now and again. By this I mean, when a passenger asks how is your day going? Don’t be afraid to answer: Oh, I’ve had my ups and downs.
27. The ability to not go crazy when twenty-five riders in the cage are talking at the same time.

These 26 prerequisites are but a few that I have been able to garner over the last several months. I hope Joe and Dave will forgive the scattered tongue, and cheek ones that might be a bit corny, which were listed in good fun.

The Ups and Downs of a Lift Operator