A LONG WAY

‘I was in the lift the other day,’ said the young man was with him, ‘it went all the way up stopped at every floor then did the same on the way down.’
‘I was waiting for it the other day,’ he said, ‘and it stopped about this much off the bottom.’
‘How long you have to wait?’ I said.
‘Took about ten minutes them pulling at the door from inside to get it open. I didn’t use it after they got out I went up the stairs I didn’t want to get stuck in it if it broke down, and I couldn’t trust it, you know?’
‘I know, it can take a while...’
‘...half hour or more...’ he said, then got out with the man was with him. ‘Have a nice day.’
‘Bye now.’
‘I don’t know what’s going to happen when they start work on this lift,’ she said after they’d gone.
‘I’ve been wondering that. We’ll be walking up the hill a lot’ll be hard,’ I said.
‘Especially if you got bags of shopping.’
‘Yes, with your hands full, or with children.’
‘The other day it wasn’t working,’ she said, ‘and I had to walk up all the way.’
‘And it’s a long way,’ I said.