Elevator Chatter

I've grown up with the belief that elevators are awkward.
First of all, it's really bad if you have to cram a bunch of people in the elevator. You don't know anyone and it's definitely bursting someone's bubble.
Second of all, the music is always bad. Who listens to smooth jazz outside an elevator?
Third, you would be considered insane if you stood facing the back of the elevator.
And lastly, there's no way to come up with pleasant conversation to break the awkward silence when you're only going up a few floors.
Or is there?
Last week I walked into an elevator with a presumed professor and two college students.
The professor smiled at the three of us as she pressed the the numbered floors we requested.
"You know what my husband said to me when he called this morning?" she asked.
I was hoping she knew the two boys, otherwise this woman was incredibly random. I looked at the two boys; they looked as stunned as I was.
"My husband called and said that our daughter had fallen off a bridge," she paused to get a reaction out of us.
I dropped my jaw a bit to satisfy her, even though I was pretty sure I didn't give a crap.
"On the playground!" the professor finished, laughing at her humorous story.
The two guys and I chuckled politely as the professor got off at the second floor.
The elevator doors closed.
"Yeah, I did that joke when I talked about my grandkids once," said one of the college-aged boys.
The other one was now playing along, "Oh really? God, what are you? 70? You look good for your age."
The elevator stopped at the next floor, they walked out, continuing their joking banter.
It was one of the oddest elevator rides I had ever been on.
Then there was yesterday.
I was on campus, walking by the elevator, when I saw a student walking into the elevator, rolling a cart.
"Yeah, I decided to take the elevator today, didn't feel like the stairs," the boy joked, obviously thinking he was a riot pretending that he'd take a cart on the stairs.
Where do these people come up with this stuff?
Here I thought elevators were awkward and silent, but these past few weeks have proved me wrong.
It's making me want to be lazy and take the elevator more often!