The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
My name is slogan_Jim and I am a grateful member of al-anon. Very grateful right now.
There was just an incident in my building in which a young man got stuck in an elevator. It was a new elevator that was just put in, and it got stuck. I began to hear some ringing of the emergency bell and some yelling. This poor man was yelling that he was claustrophobic. He was kicking the doors, yelling obscenities, threats and racial slurs. He was afraid, scared, panicked and understandably so. I could only imagine being caught in an elevator like that, especially being claustrophobic.
I phoned 911 to get him some help. They advised I was the third call and they were sending people over. His screams could be heard from across the floor and everyone congregated in the lobby to listen. Some found humor in what he was yelling.
He would say stuff like 'As soon as I am out of here I'm effing killing anyone' and 'hurry up n-word!'. Needless to say, they arrested him once they got him out.
As they were putting him in the cop car (1 of 4), many people were yelling from their balconies at the police officers to get the elevators fixed and essentially cheering this other guy on for reacting how he did in the face of consistently faulty elevators.
It felt very 'low-brow'. My neighborhood is a nice middle-class, quiet neighborhood. Seeing all those cop cars and comotion brought back a of memories of my childhood. The yelling and screaming and banging brought back the tense feeling and now I am on edge, even though my building is a safe building. It reminded me of the alcoholic's tantrums. My mom's freak-outs. I feel bad for the poor guy, but it was a really freaky incident.
Hi, SJ: Glad to learn he got out of the elevator. Makes me wonder what happened to him that scared him so badly? I don't get why he was arrested although I don't like the words he chose, but that's why I'm not a policeman. I'm not into arresting folks. The parallels I see here is that he got out of a trapped situation and so did you. Unfortunately, he has a lot of some kind of trauma to work through that he may not have even addressed yet? You are and have been working through yours. You're no longer trapped in a situation you couldn't escape as a kid and you're not allowing the past to trap you in the present.
I think the police arrested him because he was damaging private property and shouting threats. Despite being caught in an elevator, you can't do that lol.
I am glad they did arrest him because if he was capable of that kind of unrest, who knows what he'd be capable of if they just let him back in his apt. He could have become violent.
Oh. I see. He certainly had an over-the-top reaction. I feel bad for the guy. Hope he gets help. And back to you - hope you're feeling calmer now?
I can remember having flashbacks when I least expected them. It would take a bit to rest easy again. But, I could do it. Fortunately, I don't have them anymore - happened more in my 30s - but, they could sure be unnerving.
I have been trapped in an elevator and can really understand this man's fear. It does sound like an alcoholic rant and can understand your concern as well
I'm so sorry you witnessed something that brought you back to that bad place growing up and I totally understand. I recently was watching the evening news and an incident sent me back nearly 50 yrs and I felt just as ill at ease and helpless as I had been back then. I hate the past awful memories. I'm grateful we have both since grown up and have elected to make new choices in our lives so as not to repeat the damage from the previous generation of sickness.
Sounds like a very sad situation for everyone. I would think he was arrested because of the threats he made. Whether his words were due to panic, alcohol or intention, you and your neighbor's can be glad that the police didn't choose to ignore it and are doing their job to keep all of you safe. hugs TT
__________________
Surround yourself with people and elements that support your destiny, not just your history.
I can COMPLETELY relate to the triggering of trauma and "old stuff" and the immediacy and intensity of feelings that it can resurrect, just by hitting the precise node on our internal wiring boards. I want to applaud you though for your self awareness. I'm sure you can recall a time in life when that sort of thing happened without any sort of self knowledge on your part about what and why the feelings were being brought back up. Very recently, I stopped beating myself up for experiencing triggers and started applauding myself for recognizing them. Awareness, acceptance, action - for me. When I'm in moments where my stuff is really triggered and I'm awash in shame and panic and my stomach is churning - I can pull the emergency brake, take a step back and ask myself without judgment what is going on, what is coming up for me and what this reminds me of. This helps me get a very good - then vs. now scenario and allows me to free myself from shoulds.
Know you are not alone and I am inspired by your reflection.
