Passengers seem to know instinctively how to arrange themselves in an elevator. Two strangers will gravitate to the back corners, a third will stand by the door, at an isosceles remove, until a fourth comes in, at which point passengers three and four will spread toward the front corners, making room, in the center, for a fifth, and so on, like the dots on a die. With each additional passenger, the bodies shift, slotting into the open spaces. The goal, of course, is to maintain but not too conspicuously maximum distance and to counteract unwanted intimacies—a code familiar to half the population from the urinal bank and to them and all the rest from the subway.

via Our Local Correspondents: Up and Then Down : The New Yorker.

You’d never guess it, considering this lengthy piece is simply about elevators, but I found it to be a facinating read, full of interesting insights.

Tip of the hat to marco.org for bringing it to my attention.