I'm not one to hate on escalators, but as a topic of interest (such as what Beth recently posted about), I have an irrational fear of escalators. There's this fear of it jerking to a hault (as escalators seem to do randomly) and me falling to my doom along the sharp, jaggedy edges of the escalator steps. And it wouldn't be like falling down the mall escalator, oh no. It would be like falling off a 12-story building to my death, bumping stairs along the way. I don't like to stand still going down because I worry about the jerking-related death, but I also hate walking down them. I can't look up while walking down the escalator for fear I'll miss a step and stumble, but when I stare at the steps they all blend together and I start to worry whether I'll miss a step and stumble anyway. I hold on with a batter's grip to the railing and hope for the best. But D.C. metrorail escalators, my g-d. Surely my life will end while going down one. Surely.
An image search for "d.c. metro escalator" turns up 90 images, most which have some kind of description of "long long escalator." Yes, people marvel at the ridiculousness of them. That includes me, and my irrational fear of death via escalator.