Going through the heavy doors that lead in and out of my parking garage was a process requiring precision and dexterity. And it was becoming increasingly more difficult. Pulling the doors was harder than pushing them open. I’d have to let go of my cart and place one hand on the wall to steady myself, then with my other hand, pull the door open using the momentum and weight of my entire body, then use my leg to hold it open as I repositioned my hand on the other side of the door, while maintaining my balance by applying just the right amount of pressure against the door as I wheeled my cart through the doorway, stepped across the threshold, straightened my stance, and let the door close behind me. It was helpful when people got to the door before I did and held it open for me, but if they tried to help me by interrupting my delicate balancing act, it could get a little risky.
I thought automatic doors would be nice to have, but never got around to doing anything about it. So it was with absolute joy and wonder, when out of the blue, as I was heading towards my car last spring, a lady from my building walked up to me to let me know that plans had been made to install automatic doors and that a woman called Penny would be contacting me to time me.
The day the doors were automated, I met Penny by the P1 elevators. I felt like an athlete with my elderly and kindly coach as she held the stopwatch and measured the time I took to go through the first door, walk about 8 feet, then exit through the second door. Coming back was trickier. There was a parking cement block beside the entrance obstructing my path to the sensor where I needed to swipe my card. So I would have to approach the door head on to get to it. This wasn’t such a problem before, because a person about to open the door would usually see me through the glass window. But now, a person could press the automatic button at the first door, causing both doors to open simultaneously. If I were unknowingly approaching the second door when they pushed the button, I could be knocked down.
The other problem was that I had to cram myself and my cart in the little space between the cement block and the wall to clear the way for the door to open. It was awkward. These automatic doors were turning out to be more problematic than the manual doors.
Thank goodness, Penny had a solution. For $75, I could purchase a remote control to open the doors. She suggested I borrow one from the management office to see if it helped. So a few days later, I met with Penny again to try opening the doors with the remote. It didn’t work. We realized later that an ‘eye’ had to be installed first to receive the remote’s signal.
It took several weeks before the ‘eye’, as Penny called it, was installed. Luckily, this all happened during my summer vacation, so I could simply avoid using the doors by staying home. The few times I did go out alone, it was terribly nerve-racking each time I returned home and had to approach the outer door. There was one close call, when the door started opening just as I was about to step into the danger zone, but other than that, there were no incidents.
Then I went away to visit my family and forgot all about the automatic doors. I didn’t have to worry about them the day I returned because my parents were with me.
The next time I went out, I was with my friend Lisa. We took the elevator to P1. I pressed the automatic door button, proceeded to walk through the space between both doors, and just as I reached the second door, it started to close! Even though Lisa was there to stop it, my heart just about flipped in shock. Why was it closing so soon??
I was getting nervous. School was about to start and the door problem wasn’t solved.
It turns out that while I was away, the building manager had requested the doors to remain open for a measly 13 seconds!!! But my worrying was pointless; the ‘eye’ was ready, and when I visited the office I was given a remote that was specially programmed to keep the doors open for the 37 seconds I needed.
The remote, which allows me to open the doors from a safe distance, has made my life so much easier! For the first month or so, I was actually excited about my trips to and from the parking garage just so I could exercise its magic. The novelty has since died down, but it is still hugely appreciated!
