Absurd Misadventure

 

I had an extremely trying day recently, to put it lightly.  I got locked into my toilet cubicle, in our outside second-floor veranda toilet-shower area.  The doorknob locks on our doors, both inside and out, are crap.  They are cheap, poor-quality shit that often freeze up.  Through the years, we have had numerous episodes where someone was locked out of (or into) some space or another because the cheap doorknob-locks froze up. 

I went into my toilet cubicle and, per usual, pushed the lock button once inside.  When trying to get out, I turned the knob, which released the lock button with a click.  But the door was still firmly locked.  I could not open it to get out.  I was stuck. 

I tried climbing up out of my cubicle, over the high walls under the veranda roof, to either the shower stall next door or the outer veranda, but I soon realized that I would seriously injure myself if trying these strenuous acrobatic maneuvers.  I only had marginal toe-holds on water pipes, and the long reaches were beyond me.  (And, days later, I am in extreme pain from those attempts at the climb-out.) 

But I was extremely lucky – or “Be Prepared”, as in the Scout Motto – in this instance.  I had my phone.  I always prefer a “Compact” phone, a small 4.7-inch waterproof Sony, one that I can easily put into a pocket of my swim trunks that I wear at home every day.  (If I want more readable internet connection detail, I will access my 8-inch Mini Tablet or my laptop, both of which are less conveniently portable.) 

Locked inside, I called Tuk at her office, and – my extreme good luck again – she answered.  I told her my tale of woe, and she contacted a locksmith to come and rescue me.  It took about an hour, but I had assets:  a toilet, a smartphone, and a towel to wipe the sweat out of my eyes from this accursed tropical heat and humidity (a reminder of my first landing in Vietnam in 1969, when I noticed all Marines had a towel around their necks, to wipe sweat off their weapons and faces). 

The locksmith changed the lock, but also added sliding latch-locks to the inside doors of both toilets and the shower room, so that we don’t have to use the undependable doorknob locks.  I don’t want to go through that again. 

-Zenwind. 

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