Panic Attack... Shhhh

I had jury duty today. I spent three and a half hours reading or playing solitaire on my cell, before being released for an hour and a half lunch. I ate at a fancy schmancy food court at the Bank of America skyscraper. That only killed twenty minutes, so I had to hunt for something to occupy the rest of my lunch break. I walked up to the new downtown Seattle library. My husband has been inside, and hates it. I decided to check it out on my own, since I had nothing better to do. At first, I thought the library was OK - modern but kind of sterile. Then I ventured up the first escalator, which was a bright yellow tube. I started to re-think my mildly positive assessment. The next floor was a huge room filled with computers on tables. In the hopes of finding a really cool view of Seattle from the top of the library, I found the next escalator. It was an even longer yellow tube that seemed to go up for miles. I have never been claustrophobic, but was starting to consider trying it out. When I finally got to the top floor, I was disappointed. The view from the jury assembly room was actually better. At this point, all I wanted was to get the hell out of the library. The only way down was by stair or by elevator. I didn’t think my knees would appreciate the stairs, so I waited for the elevator. The wall in front of the elevators was glass. I had no desire to see all the cables, pulleys, motors, and whatever else was going on to get the elevator to me. I just wanted DOWN. Panic was starting to set in. After what seemed like hours of waiting, I got on the elevator and pushed the button that would get me back to the floor I started out on. I burst out of the elevator and the door closed, leaving me in a shiny red hallway. Red from floor to ceiling, and shiny shiny shiny. OMG... I was inside someone’s intestines! I soldiered on, followed the exit signs, and finally spilled out onto a regular stairway. I could see the outside! I felt like I had crawled out of the jungle after being chased by alligators and cannibals. I was so pleased to be out on the sidewalk. I didn’t even mind the cold wind that was blowing. On an approval scale of 1 to 10, I give the new library a -54. Bad vibes all around.