Ever Been Locked Out?

The phrase "Locked Out" reminds me of a Crowded House song. (Aside: Hey! They had a new album last year! How did I miss that? Did the public radio station hate it or something?)

And Seraphic's post about being (rather distressingly) locked out of the house the other day reminded me of the last time the same thing happened to me.

It was at my previous apartment (way before the horrendous problem), and it was right before Thanksgiving, 2006. I had just started grad school that September, and the end of the November was a crazy week because the quarter was getting close to ending, which meant I had assignments to finish. Because I was going full time, I had three courses on my schedule, and I was working full time while I attended school online in secret.

On top of that, after over a year of drama with my brother and (now) SIL, they were getting married the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure I also had to make a run to the dermatologist's office because when I mentioned to my mom that my back still itched after post-mole-removal stitches had been taken out, she looked and discovered that they in fact had not been taken out properly. As in some were still embedded there. (I'm still annoyed to this day about how bad the scar is.)

Why I had needed to carry so much at once, I don't recall--I think I might have been attempting a "dress rehearsal" at my parents' as a nervous first-time bridesmaid. I remember hauling out my dress, shoes, hot rollers, purse, probably even some schoolwork. . . and then realizing right after I slammed the door shut that my keys were not in my hand.

Fortunately, because my purse had made it out the door, I had my cell phone, and the on-site manager's phone number programmed into my phone. It took a couple tries, but finally she picked up and came over from the other building with a key. Naturally, I was rather embarrassed and apologetic, but she didn't mind. I think managers get pretty used to tenants' getting locked out.

That was the last time I locked myself out of my home. However, yesterday morning I almost left the building without my schoolbag.

Even worse, a couple Saturdays ago, I got to my parents' and realized I had driven there without my purse--again, carrying too many other things.

But I never, ever forget my keys anymore!

When was the last time you were locked out?


Comments

Rob said…
I locked myself out of my house a few years ago. I was home alone and had hoped to do some yard work. I changed clothes and just as I closed my door, I realized my mistake. My garage was also locked so I couldn't even do the yard work. We have two neighbors who have our house key. One is about 200 yards in one direction and the other is about 600 yards in the other. I knew 600 was on the way home so, naturally, I went there. They weren't home and didn't get home for another hour. Frustrating and embarrassing ... and remedied. It will not happen again.
Anonymous said…
I managed to lock myself out of my old apartment a couple of times--fortunately, I was always able to get a key from the main office, though once it was late and they had to call in a runner from home to bring it to me! The worst time was when we got home from our honeymoon and Colby realized that our keys were in his checked bags that were lost between Italy and Washington! So, we had to take a cab home, then pay a locksmith $300 to come out to the house and get us in the door :/
ccr in MA said…
I know back in college I locked myself out at least twice. More recently, home after a trip, I could not find my keys. Took forever and I was so frustrated by the time I found them. Urgh!
Dave E. said…
I think it was last spring for me, or maybe the spring before. The danger time for me is the change from winter jacket to windbreaker or vice versa. There's a high risk of me walking out of the house with my keys in the other jacket and realizing that just after I have locked and closed the door.

I keep a spare set of keys in my laptop bag, though obviously I don't always leave the house with that. So, if it comes down to it I have a secret way to break into my house without doing any damage. It's a pain in the you know what, but it gets me in and it's not something your average burglar would think of.
Kate P said…
Rob--what a long time that was for you! Talk about a tough lesson learned.

Angela--Sounds like an expensive lesson. I have always wondered what one should do with the keys when going on a trip like that. . . precisely because losing your bags could happen!

CCR--Yeah, why were the college dorms so easy to get locked out of? And there's that trip thing again. Makes me nervous.

Dave--Totally with you on the jacket switching thing. I tend to keep my work keys in my coat pocket. This doesn't happen to guys (if it does I don't wanna know!) but purse switching sometimes creates problems for me, but more often that has to do with my cell or (yikes) wallet.

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