Look before you leap

This sign is posted next to every elevator on every floor of every residential building in Sao Paulo (at least all the ones I have entered), and some office buildings as well. Translation: "Notice to Passengers: Before entering the elevator, check that it is stopped on this floor." Interesting. Would you be able to enter the elevator were it not stopped on the floor upon which you were standing? Are Brazilians so lacking in trust for their elevator manufacturers and repair crews that they need to pass a law requiring such signs (law number 12, 722 to be exact). Did a little boy fall down an elevator shaft in April of 1998 prompting the passing of this law?

When I first moved into my building I could not speak a word of Portuguese save "Obrigado" ("thank you," which, if you know Portuguese, you know I was saying in the form that is meant to be used by men. I should have been saying "Obrigada"). I would see the sign every time I left the apartment, but I thought that it was some sort of building code or other such important sign, maybe one that was telling me what to do in case of a fire or a terrorist attack. The sign then grew to become a marker of my progress with Portuguese; I was able to discern individual words as the weeks progressed and my vocabulary expanded. There finally came a day when I was able to piece together the entire meaning of the sign. But I was sure that there was no way it could, in fact, say what I thought it did, so I asked Dave. He confirmed that my Portuguese was coming along nicely, "that IS what the sign says."

In this instance, a step forward in my language skills has prompted a leap backwards in my comprehension of Brazilians. And, I never feel completely safe in elevators here any more. Obrigada.