Passing someone on the stairs
Two people meeting on a narrow staircase have to choose: squeeze past each other or let one step back to the landing. On the stage the moment once carried more weight, because being passed on the stairs foretold being passed in your career.
What it may mean
On a narrow staircase someone has to give way, and some people would rather step back to a landing than squeeze past. Theater people once took it further. A list of stage superstitions printed in 1903 said that if an actor going up or down stairs was passed by someone, he had to go straight back to his door and start again, or another actor would pass him in his profession. In a trade built on billing and parts, the stairs were a small model of a career. Most people know the feeling the actors feared: a colleague promoted first, a younger sibling married first, a friend who reached the landing you were climbing toward. Going back to your door is not much of a remedy. Noticing that you were never on the same staircase helps more.
Depending on how you saw it
Waiting on the landing
Two people meeting on a narrow flight often freeze for a second, then one steps back to the landing with a little wave. Who goes first is settled without a word. When two paths cross in a tight spot, are you more often the one who waits or the one who goes?
The stairwell at work
Office stairwells bring together people who never share a meeting: the accountant and the night guard, two managers from different floors. A few seconds of passing turns into a nodding friendship. Who do you meet on the stairs whom you never see anywhere else?
Passing on an escalator
On many escalators people stand on one side and walk up the other, and the climbers pass the standers all day long. Where in your week are you the one walking past, and where are you content to stand still?
Why it happens in nature
Most home staircases are narrow, often about three feet wide, so two adults passing must turn sideways and squeeze, which is awkward and can make someone stumble. Stepping back to a landing avoids the squeeze, so the habit is easy to keep.
To reflect on
When someone passes you on your way up, do you go back to your door or keep climbing?