For as long as I can remember the act of opening a door has been a deceivingly hard task. Not all doors were created equal, and thus their appearance has fooled the general public into approaching them in a way that will leave them looking quite incompetent. The issue at hand is whether to push or pull a door that you are trying to open.
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Now for those of you who have mysteriously always opened doors correctly, this article may be rather irrelevant to you - but for those of you who have experienced the struggle, let's break it all down.
There are all kinds of doors, some with handles on both sides and others that kindly state the motion in which the door should go, (ie. push or pull). The issue with both of these types of doors is that they can be deceiving and leave you looking like a fool in a public space, and let's be honest, nobody wants that. When a door has a handle, it leaves the person to assume that you pull the handle...because what other purpose does this handle have? I'm not sure if there was an issue designing this specific door, or if the architect wanted to play a game on the general public - either way, we need to address the issue.
I believed that all doors should have a clear indication of whether to push or pull it, and not have all of these deceiving attributes. There have been numerous cases where the person entering the building has mistakingly slammed their nose into the glass door - all because of a simple push-or-pull issue. Opening a door should be rather simple, and a task that requires little to no mental strain...but with the society we live in today, we just needed another way to make our anger levels soar through the roof.
For instance, there is this one set of doors on campus that I frequently go through and each time I do, I either end up hurting myself or cause a bystander to laugh due to the notorious struggle that these doors cause.
But let's be clear about this, it's not your fault, it's the doors. These dreadful doors actually have a name associated with them and they're called "Norman Doors." A "Norman door" is a door where the design of it tells you to do the opposite of what you're actually supposed to do and/or also a door that gives you the wrong signal and needs a sign to correct it.
So, long story short, this isn't a rare occurrence, but it is an issue that has it's own name, and an issue that has broken trust issues with a majority of society. When in doubt push the door...or pull...well, I'm not sure. Good luck anyways, and be on the lookout for these "Norman Doors."
