Dispatches from GA227: Elevator joy

In the elevator. Photo: Gerald Farinas.

The late-night elevator bays at General Assembly 227 might look like a bottleneck to some, but for anyone who has been stuck waiting in a hotel lobby after a grueling marathon of plenaries, those crowded spaces turn into something else entirely.

It is what I have come to call "elevator joy."

Networking at General Assembly is always a highlight, a chance to connect with great people and make unexpected friends. But the magic really happens when hundreds of weary commissioners and advisory delegates swarm back to their hotels late at night, crowded together and waiting for a ride up to their rooms. That is when I find myself doing my best crowd work, and I absolutely thrive on the big laughs I get.

No topic is off-limits when you have a captive audience. I have cracked jokes about lining up to potty in the massive oriental planter vase sitting right there in the lobby, or jokingly threatening to pummel a guy just to get the beers in his hands. I even gave out strategic advice, telling the elderly in the crowd that they should absolutely lean into their age to guilt everyone else and get first dibs on the next available elevator.

Another favorite bit was sharing a cautionary tale from an annual corporate event I used to attend. We were put in tiny rooms with twin beds, and forgetting I was not at home in my own bed, I would often find myself waking up flat on the floor in the middle of the night.

In those packed lobby lines, amid the laughter, I met some of the most precious people with the most incredible stories. Names might fade after a week of intense legislative work, but the places people come from stick with you.

Take Patti, a 91-year-old from the banana belt of Montana near the Idaho border. While waiting for the elevator doors to open, we dove into a conversation that covered everything from old five-and-dime stores and horseback riding to local LDS culture and the national parks.

Those late-night gatherings are also the perfect venue for impromptu lobbying. Standing in the crowd, I gladly made my pitch for my choice of co-moderators, the Rev. Marta Pumroy Cordero and the Rev. Kris Schondelmeyer, noting the Iowa roots they both share.

The business of the PC(USA) happens in the committee rooms and on the plenary floor, but the heart of General Assembly lives in the spaces in between, like a crowded elevator bay where a few jokes can turn strangers into friends.