Ladies and Gentlemen in the Elevator

When the elevator stopped at the bottom floor, it was a given that all of its occupants would be exiting. I was standing next to a well-hatted gentleman from a generation before me. When the doors opened, he acknowledged me with just the slightest of movements; a barely perceptible sideways-glance followed by a tilting of his head downward.

His following stillness was both his part and my cue.

Charmed and willing, I embraced my role in the ritual. I nodded to him to indicate my “thank you”. Then I walked out Ladies First.