February 18th

I've noticed these before. They're on every floor in the stairwells of South. I've never really given them much thought, and up until now I'd just assumed that they were for people in wheelchairs to use to call for help getting down to a lower floor. I'm not entirely sure WHY this seemed like the obvious function to me. South has an elevator after all, so I have no idea what business a wheelchair-bound individual would have entering a stairwell in the first place, never mind who would be expected to come running when they pushed the Help button, or what the rescuer would do once he or she got there. I suppose that if one WERE in a wheelchair, and one DID manage to get into the stairwell, the lack of a blue door-opening handicapped button might prove getting back inside the hallway without falling backward down a flight of stairs rather difficult. Of course, the distinct absence of a blue button ought to have signaled to the individual that this was a bad idea in the first place, that and the fact that the sign plate by the door clearly says STAIRS. It's even got braille on it, so the blind handicapped people have no excuse either. But I digress.

I noticed the little black button labeled CALL. It's not like an elevator call button with a little fireman's hat embossed on its shiny face that clearly indicates where that call will go. No, this call button has a number pad. Which brings me to my next quandary. Clearly this panel is supposed to be used for more than just calling 911, because who's going to take the time to dial when they could just push the big red emergency button? So what I want to know is, could I use this panel to call ANY number? I am so tempted to try this, but I fear that pressing the call button may set off some kind of alarm or something. And I assume that the number dialed would get recorded somewhere, and I wouldn't want the call traced back to me.

Maybe the call button is there so that the handicapped person stuck in the stairwell can call someone to chat with while he or she waits for someone to come to the rescue. I'm gonna go with that.