My name is Jackson Cole and I am a hard boiled janitor dash handyman who has seen it all. The building's darkest corners, lowest spots, tightest places that no one even knows and I have seen things. I have seen things that live in them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not easy on the eyes either. Six point five feet tall, robustly built, calloused hands, once broken nose, a busted knee to give a limp on a bad day...you probably start to get the picture. So yeah, I have scared my share of things too and if something does start to think me as an easy snack, they won't get it for free. That's why I carry this. It may look like a utility belt but no one messes with the tools that I have in there. See, good old forged tools from the 1940s. They were my dad's and nowadays they will probably cost your year's salary, but they will get the job done. If needed. Don't get me wrong I'm no superhero. I have no magical talents to fly or wear tights or a cape... Nope, just an ordinary janitor like Duke in a trench coat, minus the trench coat and the smoke. I used to, but they say that it's not healthy anymore.
It was different in my dad's days. Every building had its own janitors who knew it like the back of their own hands. Not like now. Now, I go where I am called. I still pretty much know all the small quirks in the old buildings. That my dad taught, but what my dad did not know was about the elevators. The most important thing as you step into an elevator is that you always carry sweets with you. And not just any sweets. Square, sugar-coated marmalade. With proper sugar, something that crunches on your teeth, not that powdered one. And oh, the marmalade has to be different colors and flavors. That I learned from the little girl in an elevator.
You don’t believe me? Don’t worry I didn’t either, but you know those little quirks, screeches, and pumps when you ride an elevator? Yes, there is a reason for them and not all are pretty. Scares the hell out of me every time. You could say that elevators are my kryptonite. They make me nervous. I am a big man, and locked in a box that is hauled up and down with a couple of wires does not feel safe. Then there is the air thing. How long it will really last if you are stuck in there? Seriously, I have done my homework. You can’t suffocate in a stuck elevator. There are safety things that have safety things and..but those people who wrote that do not know what I know. I just say one thing, elevators are not safe places, unless you know what I know and I will teach you some things.