The Collection Building

There is something very unique about Downtown LA that compels me to look past its mundane outer appearance and to dig deeper into uncovering the roots of this historic area. I guess I have a strange fetish for wanting to experience something out of the ordinary and sometimes downright eerie. On this particular occasion, I did just that. I took a chance and walked into an old building on the corner of 7^th and Grand called The Collection Building. Actually, I was walking back from Big Lots (yes that’s our version of Target for those who know and live in downtown) when I saw a sign on the sidewalk advertising Professional Alterations. I had a couple suits I needed altered so I figured «what the heck» and decided to check it out. The building is old, really old as with most buildings in downtown. There were these cheesy, retro looking photo ads in the lobby advertising fur coats at wholesale prices (so if you ever need a mink stole, this is your place). Then I press the elevator button to go upstairs and I hear a loud bell scream. This was followed by a man’s voice saying «over here!» as the far right elevator door opened. As I walked inside the elevator, I was greeted by a man sitting on a small stool (we’ll call him Gary). I remember I was thinking to myself how odd it was that a man was just sitting there by himself in an elevator. As I looked around to find the floor buttons, Gary says to me, «You just gonna stand there or are you going tell me what floor you want?» Ok… this was a new one for me. I always thought elevators were self service or maybe I haven’t been inside very many old buildings. As I chucked I said, «2^nd floor please.» Gary then turns a bronze lever located near his kneecaps and up we go! I seriously felt I just walked into the elevator from the Twilight Zone and when the doors open I would walk into some foggy parallel universe. This elevator uses an old pulley system to maneuver which I assumed is how some of the very first elevators were made. I saw the tailor, made an appointment and left. Same routine going down the elevator but this time I engaged in a short conversation with Gary. I asked him how long he’s been doing this. «45 YEARS!» Excuse me? Holy Cow! Apparently, he got this job in his early 20’s intending to only work part-​time. 45 years later, he’s still here. The man has been confined to a 4 foot x 6 foot cube he calls his office for almost a half a century! Gary also looks like he’s been stuck in time as his appearance would tell. Blond hair slicked back, thick black glasses, an off white hue dress shirt and brown wool slacks. He kind of resembles Truman Capote I thought. After many visits to this building to drop off/​pickup my suits, I eventually befriended Gary. In a way, meeting him is always a very humbling experience. I mean here’s a guy who for the last 45 years did one very menial task, which was to turn a lever and take passengers up and down day-​in day-​out. But Gary doesn’t feel its menial at all… its something he’s good at and gets to meet a whole lot of people doing it. He enjoys it. And here I am at my work with my biggest complaint being that my office chair doesn’t have lumbar support. So the next time you venture into downtown and want to taste a bit of elevator history, go say hi to my friend. he’ll take care of you.