Honestly I think escalators are fine, you just have to keep walking while you are on it. Isn't it a waste to take the stairs when you can walk while using the escalator to get where you are going faster?
Stairs aren't necessarily for the brave, probably just for those who aren't in a rush and are not averse to a little exercise. What IS for cowards* is standing still on the escalator or worse on the automated walkway.
* I wouldn't have chosen the word 'cowards'. I'd go with 'pansies' that are too freaking lazy to carry their own bags and have those annoying wheel suitcases that holdup airplane boarding while they try to jam it into overhead compartments.