Will's about to clip into the back rooms
February 13, 2022 8:11 AM Subscribe
"Earlier I somehow found myself in a bizarre liminal space, relaying the adventure to my friends in a group chat as it happened. Please enjoy photos from this insanity." Twitter thread, threadreader
This FPP is built like half and half so one post is for the maintenance side and one post is for the public side
posted by oulipian at 8:16 AM on February 13, 2022 [45 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 8:16 AM on February 13, 2022 [45 favorites]
I just watched Last Year at Marienbad for the first time this weekend and it feels really similar for some reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:17 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:17 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
> Go down the staircase to look for a way out.
posted by fight or flight at 8:19 AM on February 13, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 8:19 AM on February 13, 2022 [12 favorites]
Came here to post this too.
posted by popcassady at 8:23 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by popcassady at 8:23 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best doubles.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:42 AM on February 13, 2022
posted by zengargoyle at 8:42 AM on February 13, 2022
Once I was trying to get to a connecting flight at LAX and I somehow got outside. Like one minute I was walking on carpet and suddenly I was outside the building and the door locked behind me. I had to walk along the building and go through customs again. When I presented my connecting ticket they asked me what I did and I truthfully said I had no idea.
posted by lepus at 8:56 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by lepus at 8:56 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
You are in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike.
posted by taz at 9:11 AM on February 13, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by taz at 9:11 AM on February 13, 2022 [11 favorites]
Mod note: i don't know how jubilant is too jubilant for a jubilee, but in the name of science we'll just let this happen and monitor the results
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:37 AM on February 13, 2022 [39 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:37 AM on February 13, 2022 [39 favorites]
Shouldn't Backrooms be one word, capitalised?
posted by acb at 9:38 AM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 9:38 AM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
lepus . . . trying to get to a connecting flight at LAX and I somehow got outside
For many years you have been able to clear US immigration at Dublin [and Shannon]. In the 00s, I set off to visit BOS with my UK [special relationship] passport. The previous post-9/11 visit my visaless passport had been okay for travel; but now that privilege only worked if it was a machine readable passport. The INS was perfectly polite about it, but refused me entry and escorted me out out through a side-door to a featureless concrete corridor somewhere in the bowels of Dublin airport. Eventually I opened a door into the short-stay car-park and went home to regroup and rebook. I'd bought a 3for2 deal of big box Lily O'Brien chocolates in duty free for my several US hosts. The kids were accordingly delighted to see Father Chocolate back much earlier than expected.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:19 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
For many years you have been able to clear US immigration at Dublin [and Shannon]. In the 00s, I set off to visit BOS with my UK [special relationship] passport. The previous post-9/11 visit my visaless passport had been okay for travel; but now that privilege only worked if it was a machine readable passport. The INS was perfectly polite about it, but refused me entry and escorted me out out through a side-door to a featureless concrete corridor somewhere in the bowels of Dublin airport. Eventually I opened a door into the short-stay car-park and went home to regroup and rebook. I'd bought a 3for2 deal of big box Lily O'Brien chocolates in duty free for my several US hosts. The kids were accordingly delighted to see Father Chocolate back much earlier than expected.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:19 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
Shouldn't Backrooms be one word, capitalised?
posted by acb at 12:38 PM on February 1
In the original tweet, maybe... But I thought that was a typo and figured better to have readibility than accuracy for a post title.
Unless... Does "Backrooms" mean something different than "back rooms"?
posted by rebent at 10:48 AM on February 13, 2022
posted by acb at 12:38 PM on February 1
In the original tweet, maybe... But I thought that was a typo and figured better to have readibility than accuracy for a post title.
Unless... Does "Backrooms" mean something different than "back rooms"?
posted by rebent at 10:48 AM on February 13, 2022
Once I was trying to get to a connecting flight at LAX...
Ha! The exact same thing happened to me at Zurich! It was like the Twilight Zone, where I accidentally open the Bad Door, spend a few minutes worrying about being arrested and/or shot, and end up out on a roadway outside all security and customs/immigration clearance.
It very much sucked and I do not recommend it to anyone. Fortunately Swiss officials, while strict, tend to believe people who have a detailed explanation and apparent knowledge of non-public facts.
New Rule: If you are on an under-booked transcontinental flight, do NOT go to the bathroom immediately after getting off the plane, lest you finish up to discover that everyone else has left the concourse, most of the lights are now off, and the escalators have stopped, leaving you no idea which set of hallways and escalators go to the correct destination. If it goes happen to you, maybe just stand and wait for someone to see you, rather than trying to dash off to make your connection.
posted by aramaic at 10:50 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
Ha! The exact same thing happened to me at Zurich! It was like the Twilight Zone, where I accidentally open the Bad Door, spend a few minutes worrying about being arrested and/or shot, and end up out on a roadway outside all security and customs/immigration clearance.
It very much sucked and I do not recommend it to anyone. Fortunately Swiss officials, while strict, tend to believe people who have a detailed explanation and apparent knowledge of non-public facts.
New Rule: If you are on an under-booked transcontinental flight, do NOT go to the bathroom immediately after getting off the plane, lest you finish up to discover that everyone else has left the concourse, most of the lights are now off, and the escalators have stopped, leaving you no idea which set of hallways and escalators go to the correct destination. If it goes happen to you, maybe just stand and wait for someone to see you, rather than trying to dash off to make your connection.
posted by aramaic at 10:50 AM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
I am so lost.
posted by Mchelly at 10:55 AM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 10:55 AM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Backrooms is a recent video series built on creepypasta from 4chan.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:01 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 11:01 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am so lost.
> Try taking the stairs.
posted by fight or flight at 11:03 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
> Try taking the stairs.
posted by fight or flight at 11:03 AM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The first time I landed from the US (New York) at the island airport at Toronto, I found myself in a different part of the airport from the area where my dozens of previous domestic flights had landed. I passed through customs and continued wandering about until I found myself passing down a lightly-populated corridor and I noticed the people thirty seconds further down the way were walking through some sliding doors into the main concourse of the airport.
I did not have my bags and had not even seen the luggage carousel, so I reversed course. Within seconds about eight security types streamed forth out of multiple doors around me and detained me until everyone else from my flight had retrieved their bags and departed. I was then escorted to the carousel and asked to please verbally identify my bag. I affirmed that the only bag left was my bag.
I was then taken with my bag into a back room and with three or four agents watching, I was asked to unpack it for them, during which activity I was asked what each item was and if I could explain its purpose. For the next twenty minutes, I played show and tell.
“This is my phone charger. It is used to recharge my cellular phone when the battery is depleted. This is a T-shirt. I wear it to regulate body temperature. This is my toothbrush. It is an instrument used for dental hygiene. This is today’s New York Times. It contains news and opinions on current events.”
“Did you buy it in New York?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why did you buy it?”
“I enjoy the crossword.”
“Could you not have bought it here?”
“I suppose that did not occur to me.”
Eventually, having had me explain the purpose of socks and underwear and contact lens solution, they seemed satisfied that none of the items was a kilo of heroin, and they let me repack and leave.
My social circle at the time included an RCMP officer and a border services agent. Their favourite topic of conversation was how stupid criminals are. I used to mentally add, “Well, the ones you catch are.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:06 AM on February 13, 2022 [26 favorites]
I did not have my bags and had not even seen the luggage carousel, so I reversed course. Within seconds about eight security types streamed forth out of multiple doors around me and detained me until everyone else from my flight had retrieved their bags and departed. I was then escorted to the carousel and asked to please verbally identify my bag. I affirmed that the only bag left was my bag.
I was then taken with my bag into a back room and with three or four agents watching, I was asked to unpack it for them, during which activity I was asked what each item was and if I could explain its purpose. For the next twenty minutes, I played show and tell.
“This is my phone charger. It is used to recharge my cellular phone when the battery is depleted. This is a T-shirt. I wear it to regulate body temperature. This is my toothbrush. It is an instrument used for dental hygiene. This is today’s New York Times. It contains news and opinions on current events.”
“Did you buy it in New York?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why did you buy it?”
“I enjoy the crossword.”
“Could you not have bought it here?”
“I suppose that did not occur to me.”
Eventually, having had me explain the purpose of socks and underwear and contact lens solution, they seemed satisfied that none of the items was a kilo of heroin, and they let me repack and leave.
My social circle at the time included an RCMP officer and a border services agent. Their favourite topic of conversation was how stupid criminals are. I used to mentally add, “Well, the ones you catch are.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:06 AM on February 13, 2022 [26 favorites]
> Welcome to the 7½th Floor
That was my drop point for that film. Just like, nah.
posted by glonous keming at 11:41 AM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
That was my drop point for that film. Just like, nah.
posted by glonous keming at 11:41 AM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
There seem to be a handful of tales from us and our associates about stumbling into the liminal spaces in airports. What we're not seeing is how many people stumble into those spaces and never return to tell the tale. They're just gone.
posted by Wetterschneider at 1:12 PM on February 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Wetterschneider at 1:12 PM on February 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
Help. How do I get to the other thread? I can't seem to get out of this one.
posted by loquacious at 1:20 PM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 1:20 PM on February 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
Wetterschneider: There seem to be a handful of tales from us and our associates about stumbling into the liminal spaces in airports. What we're not seeing is how many people stumble into those spaces and never return to tell the tale. They're just gone.
tweet by cstross:
"This is a CLASSIC case of what happens if you accidentally find a portal into Hotelspace. OP is really lucky to be alive and safely back in our universe. "
And the Backrooms videos linked to by Pronoiac are just delightfully creepy.
posted by indexy at 1:28 PM on February 13, 2022
tweet by cstross:
"This is a CLASSIC case of what happens if you accidentally find a portal into Hotelspace. OP is really lucky to be alive and safely back in our universe. "
And the Backrooms videos linked to by Pronoiac are just delightfully creepy.
posted by indexy at 1:28 PM on February 13, 2022
Hello. My name is Dr. Glenn Pierce, and I'd like to talk to you about being special: So special, in fact, that we have no idea where you are.
posted by loquacious at 1:29 PM on February 13, 2022
posted by loquacious at 1:29 PM on February 13, 2022
There seem to be a handful of tales from us and our associates about stumbling into the liminal spaces in airports. What we're not seeing is how many people stumble into those spaces and never return to tell the tale. They're just gone.
Right, because this is where we all end up. The other place is slowly emptying.
posted by rodlymight at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Right, because this is where we all end up. The other place is slowly emptying.
posted by rodlymight at 1:41 PM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Last Year at Marienbad
Seems more Being John Malkovich as directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
At least they got their steps in.
posted by Ashwagandha at 1:42 PM on February 13, 2022
Seems more Being John Malkovich as directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
At least they got their steps in.
posted by Ashwagandha at 1:42 PM on February 13, 2022
Help. How do I get to the other thread? I can't seem to get out of this one.
posted by loquacious at 4:20 PM
"ear, thiz way"
posted by clavdivs at 2:16 PM on February 13, 2022
posted by loquacious at 4:20 PM
"ear, thiz way"
posted by clavdivs at 2:16 PM on February 13, 2022
I used to work security in a sports venue which has sufficient door and elevator control to mostly keep patrons out of the "back of house" areas, and all four major stairwells are, broadly speaking, two sets of stairs twisted around each other, double helix style. Inside the doors on each floor are helpful signs telling you which floors you can exit the stairwell on, for example,
Stairwell 1A:
6 Y
5 N
4 Y
3 Y
2 N
1 Y
Or whatever, but sometimes, depending on what corner of the building you're in, you simply can't get to some floors easily. Like, at the top of (eg) Stair 2A and Stair 2B, the signs might both have a "N" on floor 3, even though it's possible to get into that stairwell (well, that hollow column of building, anyway) on 3, but not to go up.
There are other strange architectural oddities, like the corner of one of the mechanical rooms where you can look through a gap in the construction to see another room, brightly lit but with no connecting door, or the storage area colloquially and evocatively named the "spine room," the door which is always hot, and the elevator whose numbers skip the fifth floor.
It was a fun place to go exploring when it was empty.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:48 PM on February 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
Stairwell 1A:
6 Y
5 N
4 Y
3 Y
2 N
1 Y
Or whatever, but sometimes, depending on what corner of the building you're in, you simply can't get to some floors easily. Like, at the top of (eg) Stair 2A and Stair 2B, the signs might both have a "N" on floor 3, even though it's possible to get into that stairwell (well, that hollow column of building, anyway) on 3, but not to go up.
There are other strange architectural oddities, like the corner of one of the mechanical rooms where you can look through a gap in the construction to see another room, brightly lit but with no connecting door, or the storage area colloquially and evocatively named the "spine room," the door which is always hot, and the elevator whose numbers skip the fifth floor.
It was a fun place to go exploring when it was empty.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:48 PM on February 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
Clearly this guy has never had a job where your workplace is described as, "In the back."
posted by ITravelMontana at 3:17 PM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by ITravelMontana at 3:17 PM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
those twitter threads appear to have been deleted?
posted by Ansible at 4:03 PM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Ansible at 4:03 PM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Internet Archive got a copy of the Threadreader copy. Note, do not step into the mirror.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:04 PM on February 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 4:04 PM on February 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
We're now four layers deep from screenshots from a group chat > twitter > threadreader > internet archive. Things may start to become unstable. Don't use the stairs.
posted by fight or flight at 4:06 PM on February 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by fight or flight at 4:06 PM on February 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
Do you have stairs in your house?
posted by flabdablet at 4:09 PM on February 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 4:09 PM on February 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
Seems like the whole thing was fake? I am confused.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:21 PM on February 13, 2022
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:21 PM on February 13, 2022
*casts detect Invisibility
posted by clavdivs at 4:23 PM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 4:23 PM on February 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
*casts detect Invisibility
It's still there.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 5:28 PM on February 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
It's still there.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 5:28 PM on February 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have been trapped in the mirror universe side of conferences, and I swear it’s true. He’s lucky he didn’t meet some of the “denizens.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:33 PM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:33 PM on February 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
I once accidentally got trapped like this, on the wrong set of stairs but in an SF parking garage, and eventually figured I had to jump stairs. I entered through a door that locked behind me, thinking I could exit the garage that way.
But this... you cant' even see outside with this. The lack of evacuation information or maps or a simple way to cross back from the maintenance section is kinda horrible.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 2:24 AM on February 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
But this... you cant' even see outside with this. The lack of evacuation information or maps or a simple way to cross back from the maintenance section is kinda horrible.
posted by Chrysopoeia at 2:24 AM on February 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
SHOVING IS THE ANSWER
posted by loquacious at 10:09 AM on February 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious at 10:09 AM on February 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
do not trust loquacious, he is malfunctioning
posted by flabdablet at 10:57 AM on February 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:57 AM on February 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
Humans must be pushed.
They must go down the stairs.
posted by aramaic at 11:06 AM on February 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
They must go down the stairs.
posted by aramaic at 11:06 AM on February 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
(I wanted to quote something about stairways and hallways, but I can’t find my copy of “House of Leaves”. I suppose that’s a legitimate outcome for this book, and I know better than to go searching for it.)
posted by Callisto Prime at 11:10 AM on February 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Callisto Prime at 11:10 AM on February 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
> Welcome to the 7½th Floor
That was my drop point for that film. Just like, nah.
It's an amazing film. But if the 7 1/2th floor was too weird for you, then what came afterward certainly would only have been more so.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 3:31 PM on February 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
That was my drop point for that film. Just like, nah.
It's an amazing film. But if the 7 1/2th floor was too weird for you, then what came afterward certainly would only have been more so.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 3:31 PM on February 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I keep warning you. Doors and corners, kid. That's where they get you.
posted by Space Kitty at 6:08 PM on February 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 6:08 PM on February 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
Help. I jumped over the banister in some stairwell to a nearby landing and now some maniac in is chasing me around in the dark and saying something about it being all my fault.
posted by loquacious at 1:41 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious at 1:41 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Whatever it was, it is gone now.
posted by dominik at 7:09 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dominik at 7:09 AM on February 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
« Older maintenance staircase dimension | They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Kattullus at 8:13 AM on February 13, 2022 [24 favorites]