There are two separate automatic doors leading into the store. One is Entrance Only, and the other is Exit Only. So if you're trying to get out of the store, and you're standing in front of the Entrance Only doors, they're not going to open for you, no matter how long you stand there. Of course, if someone happened to be coming into the store through the Entrance Only doors at the time you were trying to go out, you could take advantage of their triggering the automatic doors to open and slip out. But you'd have to make sure your timing was just right, otherwise the doors would slam right on you.
Now that we've established the inner workings of the automatic doors at Ace, let's move on.
As I approached the Entrance Only, from a distance, I saw that a young Emirati woman was attempting to exit the store from the wrong side of the automatic doors. She wasn't having much luck, though, since the door wouldn't automatically open for her, approaching from the wrong side, as she was. A helpful employee of Ace, wearing a yellow jumpsuit, saw the situation and rushed over to help. Rather than direct her to the Exit Only exit, he anticipated the next person coming into the store and tried to leap through the automatic door to get on the other side and trigger the sensor to hold it open for the young woman.
It was a very nice gesture, one intended to improve the shopping experience of the dignified young lady in distress and spare her any further embarrassment. However, it failed spectacularly.
Because what actually happened when the employee jumped through the Entrance Only, from the exit side, was that the sliding automatic doors came crashing shut on him AND the young lady, smooshing them together for an incredibly awkward moment, trapped in the embrace of the automatic entrance.
By that time, I was close enough to trigger the doors opening with my own entrance through the Entrance Only and the mortified couple were able to break apart. There was no acknowledgement between the two of them, or from the two of them to me, about the extraordinary event that had just happened. I could tell the lady was super embarrassed and so I guess she thought it best to just carry on like nothing had happened, head held high.
It was an awesome little oddity to witness and I've been giggling about it ever since.