I'm Harry Houdini!

OK, I'm not a magician, but I did get out of a stuck elevator once. My father and I were in a Motel 6. The room was on the fourth floor. I would have just gone up the stairs, but he wanted to go into the elevator. We go into the elevator car with another woman. I press 4. The doors close and the the lights starts moving... 1... 2... 3... and stops. I didn't feel that we moved at all, but the lights had moved. We all wait uncomfortably as the light stays on 3. After about three minutes, my father hits the emergency call button a few times. He also hits the open door button and tries pushing them open. I then hit 1 and close door at the same time, the door opens, and we find ourselves on the lobby. We hadn't moved at all.

So why did I hit 1 and close door at the same time? I had read online that pressing a floor button and a close door button at the same time on most elevators will send an express call so that the elevator will immediately go to that floor, skipping all the floors in between, regardless of which buttons have been pushed. I thought we were on the first floor, though for some reason, the elevator though we were on the third floor going to the fourth. The elevator car wasn't going up or down, so I might as well send the elevator car to where we already were: the first floor. Hopefully, if the elevator was supposed to go to the first floor and realized it was on the first floor, the doors would open up. Fortunately, my wild-ass guess proved right. And it beat waiting for someone to come.

Needless to say, we took the stairs afterwards.