Comment by BoppreH

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.