Not one direction

Some moments in life will leave you breathless.

And others will cause you to go the wrong direction at inappropriate times.

I remember when I was a little kid that it was always a fun challenge to try to run down the up escalator or up the down escalator. I mean, if you say you haven't tried this at least once in life, you're either lying, or you haven't lived. Adults look at you with annoyed expressions, but you don't really care, because it's your job to be immature.

It's a different story when you're 28 years old.

It's not always one way.

I was at the mall the other day, and I entered through a different department store than I normally do, and I was also a floor above my usual entrance, as well. I didn't realize this until I had already hopped on the escalator to take me to the next level, and the store I needed to go to was on the first floor. My initial instinct was just to turn around and quickly go back down instead of having to ride the escalator all the way up and then walk around to the descending side. I was in a bit of a hurry, and I just didn't have time for that.

Flashback to fifth grade mall trips.

I hustled down the steps, trying my best not to fall (I have a known history of klutziness on stairs), and I only had to dodge one person, who definitely shot me a disapproving look. I think it's because I accidentally hit her Michael Kors purse on my way. Oopsies.

When I got to the bottom, my sense of pride at such a ridiculous accomplishment was cut short by the Nordstrom employee standing by the escalator.

"This is not a playhouse, young lady."

Some people just don't appreciate a little excitement in the shoe department.

I decided to ignore that he called me "young lady," though I wasn't thrilled about it. I only had enough time to say, "Oops, sorry. I forgot." Then I had to continue on the journey. You'll never reach your destination if you sit there trying to make excuses for why you made a mistake.

Even though it's not quite proper etiquette to go the wrong way on the escalator, I'm OK with how things turned out in this situation. I would probably do it again if I had to. There are moments in life where you will make mistakes, and sometimes the more logical solution is simply to turn around and get on the right track rather than creating an extended path. You can't always abide by social norms or care what others think. You might accidentally bump into things along the way, and it's possible you'll even get reprimanded, but it's all part of the journey.

An escalator may go only one way, but that doesn't mean you can't go against the grain and conquer it.