"[Elevator passengers] suffer forms of time distortion that seem peculiarly attached to the elevator-riding experience. 'Door dwell,' for example, refers to the time it takes the elevator doors to close once you've boarded. 'Door dwell' typically lasts two to four seconds. Do you reach for the door-close button anyway? Would you still reach for it if you knew that most building managers disable the buttons out of fear of trapped limbs and lawsuits?"
—John Clark Keller, "Squeezing Every Second," Austin American-Statesman, October 4, 1999