History Main / DoorDumb

* The "Midvale School for the Gifted" strip of ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a student stuck at a door like this (Pull, don't Push!)

* Many notable people have made this error in RealLife, including UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. The problem is so widespread that Donald Norman's seminal book, [[http://bactra.org/reviews/everyday-things/ The Design of Everyday Things]], devotes nearly an entire chapter to describing how this mistake is a result of deficient design. Ideally, a door should give a hint (called ''affordance'') as to whether it is PUSH or PULL. In other words, a door should not have a handle on the PUSH side, so it can't physically be pulled from that side. Placing a "pull" handle on ''both'' sides of a door invites the user to make this common mistake.

* Many notable people RealLife have made this error in RealLife, including UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. The problem is so widespread that Donald Norman's seminal book, [[http://bactra.org/reviews/everyday-things/ The Design of Everyday Things]], devotes nearly an entire chapter to describing how this mistake is a result of deficient design. Ideally, a door should give a hint (called ''affordance'') as to whether it is PUSH or PULL. In other words, a door should not have a handle on the PUSH side, so it can't physically be pulled from that side. Placing a "pull" handle on ''both'' sides of a door invites the user to make this common mistake.

Many notable people RealLife have made this error in RealLife, including UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. The problem is so widespread that Donald Norman's seminal book, [[http://bactra.org/reviews/everyday-things/ The Design of Everyday Things]], devotes nearly an entire chapter to describing how this mistake is a result of deficient design. Ideally, a door should give a hint (called ''affordance'') as to whether it is PUSH or PULL. In other words, a door should not have a handle on the PUSH side, so it can't physically be pulled from that side. Placing a "pull" handle on ''both'' sides of a door invites the user to make this common mistake.

Those with an excess of strength or firepower and a deficiency of restrain may manage to [[OpenSaysMe open the door in their preferred direction]] or [[ThereWasADoor create their own, less stubborn, aperture]], to the detriment of the attached structure.

* ''VideoGame/SpongebobSquarepantsEmployeeOfTheMonth'': Patrick runs into trouble with a set of double doors in the cutscene before Chapter 3. First, he attempts to pull open the right door and gives up when it doesn't work. Then a small child exits through the door on the left, which swings inward. Patrick then pushes open the left door to enter. [[note]]It is possible that the door on the right was actually locked, but the game doesn't address it.[[/note]]

* In [[http://imgur.com/gallery/FPTWoeW?no-script=true an animated GIF]], a little stickman unleashes a variety of anime, manga and video game [[ShoutOut shout-outs]] to try and open a stubborn door. When all this fails to work and he finally collapses in exhaustion, the door finally falls...''outward.''
-->''"If pushing doesn't work, try pulling."''

* ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' gives us [[http://notalwaysright.com/when-push-comes-to-shove/17205 this story]].
* Discussed by Creator/DougWalker in his review of the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' first season episode "Avatar Roku," where the heroes try and fail to open a door just before a commercial break. Doug was sure that it would turn out they just had to push the doors to get inside instead of pulling, like they were doing, and was pleased when the writers did something much more clever.
* A story featured on the live version of ''WebVideo/WhatTheFuckIsWrongWithYou'' was about a thief who got stuck inside the store he had just robbed because of this, before another customer entered and showed him which way the door swung. The kicker: The thief was a regular customer at said store. Nash couldn't help but bring up ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip mentioned above.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In Operation F.A.S.T.-F.O.O.D. Numbuh Three goes to open the double sided door to the fast food restaurant, after trying to open from the left side and failing Numbuh One opens it from the right without any trouble.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E18AHealthOfInformation A Health of Information]]", a sleep-deprived Fluttershy arrives at Meadowbrook's house and tries to push open the door -- to no avail. She declares their only option is to ''dig'' their way in! [[MundaneSolution Twilight turns the doorknob.]]

* At one point in ''WesternAnimation/SongOfTheSea'', Ben and Saoirse have to get beyond a metal gate. Ben starts climbing the gate, while Saoirse... just opens it.

Those with an excess of strength or firepower and an deficiency of restrain may manage to [[OpenSaysMe open the door in their preferred direction]] or [[ThereWasADoor create their own, less stubborn, aperture]], to the detriment of the attached structure.

Those with an excess of strength or firepower and an deficiency of restrain may manage to [[OpenSaysMe open the door from their preferred side]] or [[ThereWasADoor create their own, less stubborn, aperture]], to the detriment of the attached structure.

Compare WeHaveTheKeys, which is another situation where opening a door is far more difficult that it should be.

* The "Midvale School for the Gifted" strip of ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' has a student stuck at a door like this (Pull, don't Push!) This is arguably the trope's most famous example, and would be the page image if not for copyright issues.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie'' provides the current page image.

* [[spoiler:The TARDIS herself]] gives the Doctor a dressing down in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Doctor's Wife" for consistently opening the TARDIS doors the wrong way -- the sign on the door reads "Pull to open", which apart from a brief repair of the chameleon circuit in "Attack of the Cybermen", have consistently done so since the very first episode. The doors open freely either way, but after about 700 years of walking past the sign and still making that mistake, the Doctor can well be described as door dumb.

* ''Disney/OliverAndCompany'': Fagin tries to pull open a door to [[BigBad Sykes']] warehouse, even after being told to push it over the intercom. When Sykes irritably corrects him, Fagin grins sheepishly, then slowly pushes the door.

* The translated lyrics of one of the opera songs in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' may relate to this, though it's unclear whether the person singing the aria is pulling against a door that opens outwards ([[JustifiedTrope thanks to a mislabeled sign]]), or if the door is just stuck. Probably the latter as one of the lyrics specifies that the damn door "[[MortonsFork sticks no matter what the hell I do]]."

* One episode of ''Series/TheJohnLaroquetteShow'' has Bobcat Golthwait as a neurotic safety inspector that always tried to open the door wrong, whether it was push or pull.

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* From [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ud92ZLccrY this Magic of Macy's ad]]:
-->'''Jessica Simpson:''' Kenneth, I can't get in the building again.\\
'''Kenneth Cole:''' You have to pull it, Jess.
* Advertising/{{GEICO}}"s "Push It" ("It's What You Do") commercial opens with a guy pulling on a push door, then Salt-N-Pepa show up and sing "Push It."

* Played with in ''Animation/{{Pucca}}''. Abyo was trying to enter the restaurant by pushing the door, then another client exit, and Abyo discovers he has to pull. He then entered the building... and the door hit him like it was a double door.

* In a volume of ''ComicBook/AmeliaRules'', one character spends the entire story pushing the "pull" door; Amelia finally breaks down and points this out only to discover he's doing it deliberately as a science fair project.

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers'': When Mickey and Donald can't pull open the door to the tower where Princes Minnie is being held, Goofy tries to ram it down by running into it. But then Mickey notices a "PUSH" sign on the door and [[DoorJudo opens it just before Goofy can hit it]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie'' provides the current page image.

* Combined with AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', when The Dude tries to prop his door shut with a chair, but then the door opens outward.
* In the classic Soviet comedy ''Film/KidnappingCaucasianStyle'', Shurik is tricked by the BigBad into being placed in a mental institution. Shurik convinces a nurse to let him speak with the head doctor. He walks to the doctor's office and tries several times to pull open the door before giving up in frustration. The nurse simply pushes open the door.
* In the German film "Münchhausen" (sorry, don't ask which one) the [[TheMunchausen selfsame]] Baron of Lies and the Young Hero compete for the love of the heroine. Their game of one-upmanship epically fails at the next door. One pushes, the other pulls, until the heroine shows them that it's a slide door.

* Mentioned in ''Literature/JohnnyAndTheDead'' by Creator/TerryPratchett, where Johnny speculates that even on alien planets where everyone breathes ammonia and has tentacles, there are still people who ZXCV the MVBN door. At a dramatically-appropriate moment somebody is slowed down just long enough because of trying to push the pull door.

* In ''Ptolemy's Gate'' from ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'', when Nathaniel is trying to get into a room full of the government's most precious magical treasures, he turns a door handle and pulls, only to find it apparently locked. He immediately starts panicking about various magical safeguards he might have to overcome, only to then have a thought. He pushes on the door handle and this time it opens.

* In an episode of ''Series/KitchenNightmares'', Gordon once walked to a door... and bumped into it, not realizing that it was a pull door.
-->'''Gordon:''' ''[[SoundEffectBleep (bleep)]]'' Door!
* There is an episode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' in which this is a running gag. Kelly was trying to open the door in the wrong direction, and in order for her to succeed she is told to do it otherwise. And then she explains it to an FBI agent who is just as stupid.
* One episode of ''The John Laroquette Show'' has Bobcat Golthwait as a neurotic safety inspector that always tried to open the door wrong, whether it was push or pull.

* Played with a sliding door in ''Series/That70sShow''. Kelso see's Hyde and Jackie making out from the Forman kitchen. Enraged he goes to open the sliding door with little success. Eric unlocks the door for Kelso only to run through the screen door immediately after. By this point, Hyde and Jackie are gone.
-->'''Donna''' And when Kelso saw you guys kissing, he just fell apart. I mean, it was awful. And then he ran into the screen door.\\
'''Jackie:''' Ohh. He's just so bad at doors.

* The ''Series/{{Haven}}'' episode "Thanks For The Memories" has a sad example. Audrey Parker enters a magical barn that is about to disappear for 27 years. Her boyfriend Nathan Wuornos, in a blind panic and desperate not to lose her, ineffectually tackles and pounds on the door that opens outwards. However, it was magically sealed shut, so it wouldn't have mattered if he pulled it anyway.
* On ''Series/NewGirl'', the guys point out that Nick is angry all the time, and a flashback shows him struggling to push on a pull door because "I push when I want to!"

* A variation in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry7LoveForSail''. The door to the break room is heavily secured with all kinds of biometric sensors and dozens of weapons tracking your every movement. How do you open? Push. It's not locked. However, the "push" command is not on the list of options and has to be typed in.

* Garrett from ''Webcomic/CrystalHeroes'' does this with a BookcasePassage, repeatedly trying to shove the bookcase to the left with all his strength, after which Isaac casually pushes it open to the right.

* A story featured on the live version of ''WebVideo/WhatTheFuckIsWrongWithYou'' was about a thief who got stuck inside the store he had just robbed because of this, before another customer entered and showed him which way the door swung. The kicker: The thief was a regular customer at said store. Nash couldn't help but bring up ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip mentioned above.

* ''Website/ActsOfGord'' gives us this narration:
-->"Remember ''The Far Side'' where the kid is at the school for the gifted and he's trying to push on the door when it's labeled pull? Well, this one kid was trying for two minutes to do the same thing at Gord's door. Oh this was going to hurt when the rest of the family showed up."

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In Operation F.A.S.T.-F.O.O.D. Numbuh Three goes to open the double sided door to the fast food restaurant, after trying to open from the left side and failing Numbuh One opens it from the right without any trouble.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' episode "Knights Are Brave and Strong", Uniqua has to get through the gate the Guardian of the Gate guards. Even the Guardian himself can't open it -- because the whole time he never thought of pulling on the handle instead of pushing. It says something when apparently ''an entire kingdom'' has never been able to open a door because nobody thought of opening it the other way.
* Happens twice in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. The first case is in "Read All About Ed", when Ed tries to deliver a paper to a fenced-in house, but can't pull the tall fence door open. He then tries to leap clean over the door, only to get his pants snagged on the top of the frame. When he calls Edd for help, Edd pushes the door open, smacking Ed into the fence in the process. The second case is in "Too Smart for His Own Ed", and this time it's ''Edd'' that falls victim to this. After Ed wins the spelling bee, Edd is left flustered and unable to think clearly, so when he tries to enter the cafeteria and can't push the door open, he thinks it's locked at first, until Ed of all people points out he was supposed to pull it. (Spelling pull right, but reading it backwards.)
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E18AHealthOfInformation A Health of Information]]", a sleep-deprived Fluttershy arrives at Meadowbrook's house and tries to push open the door -- to no avail. She declares their only option is to ''dig'' their way in! [[MundaneSolution Twilight turns the doorknob.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The characters on this show are so stupid that on separate occasions, three different people have managed to get themselves stuck ''inside'' a car because they tried to pull the door inwardly instead of opening it outward.

TruthInTelevision. Many, ''many'' people in RealLife have done this, including UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. The problem is so widespread that Donald Norman's seminal book on design, [[http://bactra.org/reviews/everyday-things/ The Design of Everyday Things]], devotes nearly an entire chapter to describing how the design of door handles leads people to make this mistake - basically, the door should give a hint (called ''affordance'') as to whether it's a PUSH or PULL, for example by not having any handle on a PUSH door so you physically can't push it. So if you encounter one of those doors where there's a "pull" handle on ''both'' sides, it's the door's fault you tried to open it wrong. (Here's a tip: If it's not a residential house, pull to enter and push to leave. Fire safety regulations state you must be able to push open a door from the inside so people don't have to take a step back and pull open the door in an emergency, which might be impossible if there's a crowd standing behind you also trying to get out.)

Most of the time a person who tries to open a door the wrong way will reverse course when it refuses to budge. If the door ''still'' doesn't open, ''that's'' when people get confused. Unfortunately, many places with double doors like to keep one of them locked, so people might mistakenly think that both sides are locked when in reality they're just trying to open the "wrong" door.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision. Many, ''many'' people in RealLife have done this, including UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, most of the time a person who tries to open a door the wrong way will reverse course when it refuses to budge. If the door ''still'' doesn't open, ''that's'' when people get confused.
* Donald Norman's seminal book on design, [[http://bactra.org/reviews/everyday-things/ The Design of Everyday Things]], devotes nearly an entire chapter to describing how the design of door handles leads people to make this mistake.
* A common problem for people adept at reading backwards encountering glass doors. Yes it says "Push", or at least "hsuP", but that's a message intended for people on the other side of the door, not the person reading the back of the word through the glass.
* Not to mention, one can't help but assume that some of the designers for these things are just assholes sometimes -- ever see one of those doors where there's a "pull" handle on ''both'' sides?
* Averted with some doors that turn on large pins rather than hinges, and can thus open either way. Most commonly found in large public buildings.
* A similar case. Obviously you often have to turn the handle before pushing/pulling the door. Nonetheless, there are doors where the handle would not budge, as if the door is locked, yet it turns out the door can be opened anyway.
* There are also cases involving double doors, where one side will be locked and the other unlocked. It is not unusual for a person to assume that if one door is locked, the other must be as well.
* Some folks try to laugh it off with the following: "P-U-L-L. Huh, that's a funny way to spell 'push'."
[[/folder]]

* A variation in ''Film/TheParentTrap'' (Creator/LindsayLohan version): Annie, in Hallie's house, has trouble opening the back door, because she is trying to turn the knob instead of pushing it.

* The translated lyrics of one of the opera songs in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' may relate to this, though it's unclear whether the person singing the aria is pulling against a door that opens outwards ([[JustifiedTrope thanks to a mislabeled sign]]), or if the door is just stuck.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', Harold tries to push a door open, and Helga has to point out to him the "Pull" sign. But when he finally figures it out, he pulls the door too hard and hits himself with it.

* Brought UpToEleven in one story of the Italian comic ''ComicBook/{{Cattivik}}''. The only obstacle between the protagonist and the apartment he intends to rob is a door that he fails to open, in spite of first pulling, [[GenreSavvy then pushing]], then trying to break it open, then ''begging and threatening it'', then trying to destroy it with napalm, the bombs of a B-52, an ''alien spaceship'' (in a ShoutOut to ''Film/IndependenceDay'') and even a ''[[NukeEm nuke]]''. As Cattivik surrenders in desperation, one of the people from the apartment exits and calmly opens the ''sliding door''. Cattivik takes it about as well as you'd expect.