4 ms·

I remember moving to a new office building in a new city a few years ago and puzzling where to find the recycle bins for the complex. I started asking around an

I remember moving to a new office building in a new city a few years ago and puzzling where to find the recycle bins for the complex. I started asking around and I think I ended up calling the city and discovering that the city murfed[0] all its collected trash. Ever since then I assumed all recycle bins were just a courtesy interface like the close door button on an elevator and that because everyone does such a crappy job sorting their own trash (I know I do), it all went into the same truck and ended up at a MRF. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_recovery_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_recovery_facility

pixelcort 11y ago
Tangent, but in Japan the close door button actually works; some elevators will even just sit there and wait until that button is pressed.
- kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
  They are occasionally functional in the US too. Always worth a check if no one else is approaching the elevator.
  - antsar 11y ago
    There are non-functional "close" buttons? I assumed your GP was saying that the buttons do work, just that they don't need to be used because the door will close anyway. At least that's the case in any building I've been in.
    - Vendan 11y ago
      Most(almost all) Elevators in the US have to comply with the ADA codes. One of those is that the doors have to be open for a certain amount of time, period. During this time, the "close" button is required to have no effect. After that time, the "close" button can close the doors, but this is usually about the time the doors would start closing anyways. In essence, the "close" button does nothing most of the time you are hitting it.
      - antsar 11y ago
        Interesting, thanks for the insight. For anyone else reading this, here's a decent summary of the ADA requirements: http://sterlingelevatorcons.com/white-papers/elevators-and-the-ada/ http://sterlingelevatorcons.com/white-papers/elevators-and-t...

pixelcort 11y ago

Tangent, but in Japan the close door button actually works; some elevators will even just sit there and wait until that button is pressed.

kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
They are occasionally functional in the US too. Always worth a check if no one else is approaching the elevator.
- antsar 11y ago
  There are non-functional "close" buttons? I assumed your GP was saying that the buttons do work, just that they don't need to be used because the door will close anyway. At least that's the case in any building I've been in.
  - Vendan 11y ago
    Most(almost all) Elevators in the US have to comply with the ADA codes. One of those is that the doors have to be open for a certain amount of time, period. During this time, the "close" button is required to have no effect. After that time, the "close" button can close the doors, but this is usually about the time the doors would start closing anyways. In essence, the "close" button does nothing most of the time you are hitting it.
    - antsar 11y ago
      Interesting, thanks for the insight. For anyone else reading this, here's a decent summary of the ADA requirements: http://sterlingelevatorcons.com/white-papers/elevators-and-the-ada/ http://sterlingelevatorcons.com/white-papers/elevators-and-t...