It is odd. Step into the Lift in a car park, or hotel, or department store, or hospital, and if there is one other person, they will almost always speak. The words might mean little, a comment about the weather, or the traffic, or something similar. Even if they are no more than observations of the obvious, “a grand stretch in the days,” or “the nights are drawing in;” they are acknowledgements of the presence of the other, perhaps they are marks of respect for their dignity.

If the lift …