The power of Tom and Jerry!

Have any of you had the pleasure, the sheer joy of being stuck in an elevator (or lift from my British friends)? I recently had that honor.

After a work out at the gym at Carlton Tower Hotel in London, I put on the 25 layers of clothing that are required to deal with the ridiculously cold winter in this country and rushed to catch a movie. I jumped in the elevator and was delighted to see that the button "G" had already been pressed and that I didn't have to go through the incredible inconvenience and extraordinary effort of extending my index finger and touching it. There were three kids (between 5 and 8 years) in the elevator with me and they were expecting what most of us expect when we get in elevators, a few seconds of awkward eye contact, a few seconds of pretending that we didn't make awkward eye contact, the occasional snippet of polite, but insincere conversation with people we will never see again and then...freedom. Well, that didn't happen.

BANG!

The elevator stopped. The kids looked at me for guidance, for strength, for leadership. And I...looked right back at them. However, sensing the impending panic that was about to unleash itself in a tiny space, I did what every other responsible adults would do - bang on every button and expect something to happen!
Well, something did happen - the air-conditioning shut off, a siren blasted and a robotic voice repeatedly yelled "Emergency! Emergency!"

Sensing that the kids were about lose control of their bodily functions any second, I gave them a reassuring look, Bruce Willisesque glance from the 80's/90's that said everything was going to be OK.

They saw through me quicker than the entire planet saw through Tiger Woods'"my wife was trying to save me" story! Fortunately, before the dam of tears and urine broke, we heard:

"Are you stuck?"

"Hell yeah! Help us!

An hour later...we will still there! And then the gods smiled down on us, the TV screen flickered and on came...Tom and Jerry!

I laughed.

The kids laughed!

And what started was a symphony of laughter! Each of us cracking up, high-fiving each other! When they finally did open the door...we had be dragged out of the elevator, kicking and screaming! OK, I had to be dragged! I couldn't leave without the satisfaction of knowing that Jerry had once again escaped Tom's clutches!

Amazing what happens when we tap into the part of ourselves that is childlike :)