Many years ago, I went to the cinema to watch a film called Revenge of The Pink Panther.
There was a scene in a lift which was just hilarious. Peter Sellers is playing the part of a hapless gangster who gets into the elevator with some real gangsters. They are sizing each other up when one of them passes wind. The look on their faces is just priceless and I can still remember laughing so hard that I went into that sort of wheezing mode, where you can’t quite catch your breath. Nowadays, you can visit the Internet and not only see the original scene, which is still comical, but the so-called ‘out-takes’, which are, if possible, even funnier, as the actors corpse shamelessly.
This all came to mind just this evening, as a few of us were in the elevator going to a meeting in the hotel we are all staying in. There would be, perhaps, five or six of us; serious, suited and booted and each with a little dangly thing around our necks, when one of us recalled the lift scene and shared the memory. We were all chuckling madly when the elevator stopped and a stranger, not one of our group, got in. Well, we all found it really difficult to keep a straight face and there was much snorting and sniggering. I’m sure the poor chap thought that we were laughing at him, but we weren’t, of course. One of us even went so far as to explain our uncontrollable mirth. Of course, it failed; the stranger didn’t speak English. Unfortunately, he exited the elevator with a less than positive view of these few crazy English! Actually, two of us were Scottish, which is where the next chapter in this sorry tale begins.
Have any of you seen the sketch in the elevator involving two Scotsmen, who are attempting, vainly, to get the voice-recognition software in said elevator to recognise the Scottish accent? If you haven’t, search for ‘eleven elevator’ on your search engine and be prepared for a real treat. Anyhow, there we were, the same half dozen ‘professional men’ still suited and booted, and on our way back to our respective floors to get changed and go out for the evening. We were chuckling about the sketch and the non-Scots members of the group were attempting to say ‘eleven’ in a Scottish accent when the elevator ‘pinged’ and the doors slid open to admit a person. You have probably guessed who it was? You’re right! It was our friend from earlier in the day. He was slightly nonplussed to find us still apparently in the elevator, seemingly riding up and down, and waiting for him. It must have seemed that way, as we were all muttering ‘eleven’ and chortling wildly.
Later in the evening, we lamented our poor behaviour, of course. We looked for him to explain, the next day. It appeared that he had checked out. We weren’t proud of ourselves and felt a bit bad; but we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!