Pull and Push 推拉之間

It has been 4 years since I came back and resided in Taiwan; however, I am still not used to opening a door in the public areas like a restaurant or other places in Taiwan. Every time, when I enter a restaurant or a shop, I always tried to pull the entry door instead of pushing the door. Meanwhile, I have noticed someone looking at me with a funny or disdain eye. They probably thought I couldn’t read the Chinese character of “PUSH.” 

In the States, the fire prevention regulations require any public doors to be pushed out when leaving or pulled when entering the building. The main reason is to avoid massive casualties when the area is on fire.  When there is a fire, people will run to and escape through the doors. If the doors are installed to be pulled in when leaving, then there will be no space to pull the door open and crowds will be injured or die at the door. In many instances people died at the door because they could not pull the door open because of the number of people pushing against the door. If the door is pushed out from inside, then most people would not have to worry about opening the door because the crowd strength will force the door to open.

But in Taiwan, we don’t see this regulation in any public areas. Most of the doors in the public areas are pushed in going inside and  pulled in going outside.  So, next time if you visit a restaurant or a store, please voice your opinions on this issue to protect yourself and your loved ones.  If you just come to an idea of remodeling your business or open a shop or a restaurant, please keep this in mind: having your doors installed to be pushed or pulled out.

The awareness of the 9 death at Ala Pub in Taichung

距我和先生回來台灣定居的時間，已過了四年之久。四年來， 我還不習慣台灣公共場所的開門方式，因為它和美國完全相反。有時候，當我試著拉開門時，我發現門是要往內推，所以常常因為自己不經意的舉動而遭來異樣的眼光。這些眼光好像是在告訴我說：＂小姐，你是看不懂門上這個字＂推＂嗎？＂頓時，讓我有些不好意思。

美國的消防法規上，要求所有進出公共場所的門一律要往外拉或外推。　因為為當火災發生時，群眾會往門口擠推。如果是往內拉的門，因群眾的全擠在門前，而導致没有空間把門拉開，大部分的人則會因而受傷或死亡。但如果是外推的話，群眾推擠的力量則會迫使門自動打開，　大家也可以全身而退。

在台灣，　我們並没有這樣的消防法規可以約束所有的商店，所以大部分的門都是內推或內拉方式。因此呼籲大家到餐廳或任何商店，如果有看到這種門，請你把這個意見告訴店家，讓他們可以在重新裝潢時，可以改善門打開的方式；如果你正想要重新裝潢你的店面或想要開店，　請把這一項安全規則也考慮進去。

因台中阿拉酒吧而有感而發！