--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She became confused when she stepped onto…" description: "\"She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator that wasn't working.\" — Don DeLillo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg" --- # She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator… ![“She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator that wasn't working.” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg) > “She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator that wasn't working.” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character becomes disoriented when an escalator malfunctions, highlighting reliance on technology. **In simple terms:** Escalator failure caused confusion. Key Takeaway Question reliance on automated systems. Themes technology disorientation modern life Mood reflective ironic Type commentary humorous When to use this quote - airport navigation - shopping malls - public transport - daily commutes Key Concepts Human-technology interaction dependency Questions to Reflect On - How do we cope when everyday tech fails? - What does this reveal about our dependence? A Different Perspective Not all tech failures are dramatic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) [Confused Stepped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused-stepped-5950383/) [Escalator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escalator/) [Escalator Wasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/escalator-wasn-5950382/) [Stepped Escalator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stepped-escalator-5950384/) ## Related quotes > [An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/an-escalator-can-never-break-it-can-only-become-stairs-you-should/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/an-escalator-can-never-break-it-can-only-become-stairs/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [She taught me how to walk. I taught her how to perch on an escalator in a mall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/she-taught-me-how-to-walk-i-taught-her-how-to-perch-on-an-escalator/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [In life we are using the down escalator to go up,so if you are not fast enough it will take you down .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-emam/in-life-we-are-using-the-down-escalator-to-go-up-so-if-you-are-not/) [Mahmoud Emam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-emam/) > [I'm building a glass pyramid over the Egyptian escalator where my body will be mummified, so my customers can come and see me forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-al-fayed/i-m-building-a-glass-pyramid-over-the-egyptian-escalator-where-my/) [Mohamed Al-Fayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-al-fayed/) > [I always walk up the escalator on the Tube, and I live in a house with a lot of stairs, and that's good exercise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/i-always-walk-up-the-escalator-on-the-tube-and-i-live-in-a-house-with/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [“I like an escalator because an escalator can never break, it can only become stairs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/i-like-an-escalator-because-an-escalator-can-never-break-it-can-only/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [Escalator temporarily stairs. Sorry for the convenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/escalator-temporarily-stairs-sorry-for-the-convenience/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [“They use the M as an anchor to get the doughnut and then there's an escalator to nowhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-burgess/they-use-the-m-as-an-anchor-to-get-the-doughnut-and-then-there-s-an/) [Gemma Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-burgess/) > [When I was a kid, while touring East Berlin - back when there was an East Berlin - I got my left foot stuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bleyer/when-i-was-a-kid-while-touring-east-berlin-back-when-there-was-an/) [Kevin Bleyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bleyer/) > [Early in my life, every time I had to climb the ladder of success because my father never taught me to use the escalator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/early-in-my-life-every-time-i-had-to-climb-the-ladder-of-success/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Climb the ladder to success escalator style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-notorious-b-i-g/climb-the-ladder-to-success-escalator-style/) [The Notorious B.I.G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-notorious-b-i-g/) > [In life, redemption was walking up the down escalator: stop to congratulate yourself, and back you slid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-waldman/in-life-redemption-was-walking-up-the-down-escalator-stop-to/) [Amy Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-waldman/) > [Mathura railway station should be a blend of heritage look with modernisation like escalator and better waiting rooms for general class passengers. Instead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hema-malini/mathura-railway-station-should-be-a-blend-of-heritage-look-with/) [Hema Malini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hema-malini/) > [That moment of preparation right before you step on an escalator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-moment-of-preparation-right-before-you-step-on-an-escalator/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Explore all 699 Don DeLillo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More Confused quotes > [The fact -- not theory -- that evolution has occurred and the Darwinian theory as to how it occurred have become so confused in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gaylord-simpson/the-fact-not-theory-that-evolution-has-occurred-and-the-darwinian/) [George Gaylord Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gaylord-simpson/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [I was a very protected and confused kid till 24. It was after then, that I started taking my life seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siddharth-shukla/i-was-a-very-protected-and-confused-kid-till-24-it-was-after-then/) [Siddharth Shukla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siddharth-shukla/) > [I can picture certain things in my mind, while writing the script, but then I can also tell that everyone else might be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-can-picture-certain-things-in-my-mind-while-writing-the-script-but/) [Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/) > [America today is a confused society, caught up in a terror war, a culture war, and a media war, where honesty and professional standards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/america-today-is-a-confused-society-caught-up-in-a-terror-war-a/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [Well I'm trying to think what I put in... I think I put in 'why?' to see if I'd confuse the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/well-i-m-trying-to-think-what-i-put-in-i-think-i-put-in-why-to-see-if/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [What a wonderfully exciting cough,' said the little man, quite startled by it, 'do you mind if I join you?' And with that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/what-a-wonderfully-exciting-cough-said-the-little-man-quite-startled/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I am still searching for the expression of those confused sensations that we bring with us at birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/i-am-still-searching-for-the-expression-of-those-confused-sensations/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [If I look confused it is because I am thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/if-i-look-confused-it-is-because-i-am-thinking/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [I believe that much of Hollywood is confused about Israel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pellegrino/i-believe-that-much-of-hollywood-is-confused-about-israel/) [Mark Pellegrino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pellegrino/) > [My senior thesis was a documentary. By the time I graduated from college, I thought I was going to make films, and my interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/my-senior-thesis-was-a-documentary-by-the-time-i-graduated-from/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [“Hold the freaking phone! I am clearly missing something here,” Lori said, still holding a confused expression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-chamberlin/hold-the-freaking-phone-i-am-clearly-missing-something-here-lori-said/) [Lindsay Chamberlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-chamberlin/) [Browse all 1,772 Confused quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator that wasn't working.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Don DeLillo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-onto-an-escalator-that-wasn-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Confused" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-onto-an-escalator-that-wasn-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfd/don-delillo-294_confused_she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-ont_1577229.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She became confused when she stepped onto an escalator that wasn't working.” — Don DeLillo", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Don DeLillo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She became confused when she stepped...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-onto-an-escalator-that-wasn-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-became-confused-when-she-stepped-onto-an-escalator-that-wasn-t/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```