Growing up, many apartment buildings had doormen sitting behind a desk in the lobby. Some of the functions they provided:
- Identifying suspicious people and situations.
- Helping people carry things through the lobby.
- Passing messages before cellphones.
- Receiving packages.
- Making sure people in the lobby behaved.
And probably more that I never realized as a child. Doorman doesn't necessarily mean "suited guy standing attention outside the building next to a door". The locks were also electronic, so they didn't even have to stand up to answer intercom buzzes.
- Identifying suspicious people and situations.
- Helping people carry things through the lobby.
- Passing messages before cellphones.
- Receiving packages.
- Making sure people in the lobby behaved.
And probably more that I never realized as a child. Doorman doesn't necessarily mean "suited guy standing attention outside the building next to a door". The locks were also electronic, so they didn't even have to stand up to answer intercom buzzes.