"Out Of Order"

January 12, 2024

What happens when you see an “out of order” sign on something you wanted to use?, You know, like a restroom, ATM, escalator, etc. Or better yet, what about when there is No “out of order” sign on something that isn’t working, like the treadmill at the gym? That’s a pet peeve of mine.

When I see an “out of order” sign my first thought is usually “well that’s not working, so move on”. Now, if it’s something that has been “out of order” forever, like those treadmills at the 24/7 gym, then it annoys the crap out of me. Fix the darn thing or replace it.

But for some reason, when something isn’t working and there is No out of order sign, and you are left to just “discover it” for yourself (along with everyone else), that chaps my butt. Not sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact, I am a A+++++ personality, and a true Gen X’er. I was raised to believe if something isn’t working, you fix it or get it fixed, don’t just ignore it.

I love to people watch. Do you? And watching people encounter an “out of order” sign, or something that isn’t running (with no sign) is quite entertaining. Give it try.

For me, one of the funniest things to watch is people’s reaction to an escalator that isn’t running. It’s like, suddenly people forget how to walk up and down stairs. And for some reason going up is worse than going down. Everyone seems to walk funny on them when they are not running.

I will admit that walking up or down those metal steps, that are usually moving does feel different. Why is that? It’s not the same as walking up or down a fixed stairwell. The stairs seem to just feel different.

I’ve never seen an escalator that goes side to side, although they probably exist somewhere. For some psychological reason, moving up and down vs left to right has a very different impact, both in our personal and professional lives.

For me, I associate “progress” with up/down motion but not left to right motion. I’ll dive deeper into the effects of up/down vs left/right motion, especially in your career, in another article.

So, what happens when you encounter an “out of order” escalator in your personal or professional life? How do you react? Do you just move on and just keep going, walking up or down and don’t let it bother you? Or does it stop you?

When you encounter an out of order moment in your life, you have a couple of options 1) you can just keep going, finding another path, sort of like a “detour” and work around it or 2) let it completely stop you.

How we choose to handle those “out of order” moments in our life can truly shape our next steps and not only our next steps, but the steps of those we impact and influence. Yes, someone is watching how you handle every situation in your life.

No one is ever going to remember that you delivered that spreadsheet on time, or that you, were up on the latest greatest business acumen, data analytics, metrics, etc. No one is probably going to walk up to you one day and say “gosh, you were the best at meeting deadlines, etc.” No, they probably will not.

But someone may very well walk up to you one day and tell you that the way you handled that “out of order” moment either in your life or helped them with theirs, impacted their life in a positive way.

Life legacies are made in those moments. What will yours be?

If you are having an “out of order” moment right now, let me encourage you to just keep going. Don’t stop and don’t over analyze it. By the time you figure out why there was an out of order moment, you will have already reached your destination. Yes, there is a destination, maybe even one you didn’t anticipate, but well worth the work around.

So, remember to impact someone in a positive way today, walk up and down the out of order escalator and remember how you handle that out of order moment in your life may very well impact others. Make it count!

Please share your story of the “out of order” moment and how you handled it in the comments.

This is BestLife50.