Non-moving escalators/depth perception freakout

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I had to walk up a non-functioning escalator at a huge charity rummage sale held in a disused shopping mall and it was scarier than any carnival ride I've ever been on. The grooves in the steps of the escalator were all aligned so that it was hard to see the edges of the steps and it felt so bizarre and wrong. The trip back down was even worse! Every step seemed like it was 2 feet high and by the time I got back down I was dizzy and shaking so bad I had to sit down.

Nobody else there seemed to have any problem with it. I have no problem with moving escalators. I walk up and down them all the time. Is that a depth perception thing or what?

I've never walked up a still escalator, so I wouldn't know.

But thinking about it, it does sound like it would feel weird.

I'm pretty sure I would have the same problem as you if I had to do it and also would get s**t from others for it for being "difficult".

It is definitely a strangely odd and unpleasant sensation... like your body expects it to be moving so its stillness just feels... wrong.


...like a visit to the town of Pripyat.

I've walked up lots of still escalators. I live in crappy Manchester and public buildings often have non-functional ones. It is always a little bit weird, even after you've done it a lot.

Escalators, moving or still, are horrible for me. The ones on the tube in London or the Metro in Paris are the worst ever, they make my head spin. I usually stand gripping on to the handrail for dear life. I suspect it is caused by something akin to motion sickness i.e. we are not able to reconcile our kinetic sensory input with our visual sensory input. The escalator thing is much, much worse than any motion sickness for me though.