Long before “911,” a very similar occurrence happened in the same city, but whereas the second circumstance was vengeful and purposeful, the original was nothing less than an accident.
For
during WWII, an Army Air Corps pilot was flying over Manhattan in a dense fog.
He was hopelessly lost, and his aircraft was far too low. Suddenly, The Empire
State Building loomed ahead, and the unfortunate pilot crashed his large
warplane into an upper floor of the building. Of course, he and his co-pilot
died instantly, and several other office workers were also victims of the
disaster.
And then
there was the elevator operator. As she had for so many years before, she was
going about her normal duties when the airplane smashed into the building. The
cables to the elevator snapped, and the machine plummeted to the basement,
dozens of floors below.
Thankfully,
the elevator was equipped with an automatic braking system. As it fell to
ground level, it began to slow down, but since it had already reached such a
high speed, the braking system was just not enough to prevent the elevator
operator from sustaining severe injuries.
“Marjorie”
sustained several broken bones, and internal injuries, and I cannot speak to
whether her injuries healed sufficiently for her to resume a normal, functional
life, but… she lived.
I believe
this story has something to teach us, beyond simply avoiding riding elevators
in tall buildings. (No, I’m not serious.) I have climbed the stairs which lead
to the top of The Washington Monument, as well as those leading to the crown of
The Statue of Liberty, and I can affirm that an elevator is faster, and
requires so much less effort. As a matter of fact, I have ridden an elevator to
the 86th floor of The Empire State Building, on my senior trip in
the late 60’s; the same building which experienced the foregoing tragedy a
quarter of a century prior to my own visit.
Sometimes
we invest too much faith, too much trust, too great an expectation in those
with whom we have to do, and sometimes, as a result, we get hurt. People let us
down. We set our proverbial elevator too high, and we find ourselves plummeting
to the basement, below. I think we would do ourselves a favor if we set our expectations
of another person at lower level, so that if they disappoint us, we don’t find
ourselves emotionally devastated. And if that person, or persons exceed our
expectations, well, we can rejoice, and can be glad for it.
That
almost forgotten event from such a long time ago has a valuable lesson to teach
us; one which is difficult to learn, and one which some people never learn, but
which has everything to do with our health and happiness.
by William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 90. Copyright pending
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