I Can Get Lost in the Elevator

 

I don't know if this is a European convention or just Italian, but it takes some getting used to. When you get in an elevator, (as indicated in the photo) the first floor is actually zero--perhaps that's what is meant by "ground zero."  I cannot remember how many times I've gotten on the elevator planning to leave our apartment house, only to push number "1."  That takes you to the floor above ground level.  If you want to walk out of the building, you have to select "0."  However, if you want to go to the trash cans, you have to select "minus 1" because you have to go through the garage to get there.  We live on the third floor which is really the fourth floor if you're American.  I try not to use the elevator because I don't want to be sick when I die. I want to get as much exercise as will keep me reasonably healthy.  But when I'm running up the stairs, I often think I have arrived after I have gone up three flights of stairs.  Several times, I've put my key in the door and wondered why it won't unlock.  Then, I look down at the door mat. Ours says, "Rome is Always a Good Idea."  If it doesn't say that, I realize I've stopped at the third floor and our place is the fourth floor --AKA the third floor. (Strangely, all the messages on the floormats outside the doors are written in English. One of them below us says, "OH NO, NOT YOU AGAIN!"

 

It is funny, though, that when we get on the elevator we usually have to pause and think, "Where do we want to go?