A closer look
Most 'close door' buttons in modern elevators are completely fake and do absolutely nothing to speed up your escape from forced small talk with your coworkers. Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, elevator doors are legally required to remain open for a specific amount of time so people using wheelchairs or canes can enter safely. Manufacturers simply kept the button there as a psychological pacifier to give impatient commuters a false sense of control over their meaningless lives. You can mash that little plastic disc until your finger bleeds while making desperate eye contact with the person running down the hall, but the doors will only close when the programmed timer tells them to. It is the ultimate corporate metaphor, giving you the illusion of power while a cold, unfeeling machine actually dictates your schedule
