Whoever said, “When one door closes, another one opens” was certainly speaking figuratively. I say this because, in my experience and in the experience of some of my friends, when one door closes, it sometimes locks behind you and there’s no other portal available. I am not a pessimist by nature, but a realist who is speaking from first-hand episodes.
One such episode happened one cold, snowy day in January. I was still enjoying my morning coffee in my pajamas and fuzzy slippers, but ventured out to our attached garage to feed the dog (and before all of you animal lovers out there start writing me nasty letters about keeping our dog outside, let me clarify that we had a heated doghouse in the insulated garage). I automatically pulled the door shut behind me and it wasn’t until I tried to open it again that I found it locked. I had forgotten to turn the little device on the knob, which effectively barred me from re-entry.
There I stood in my sleep apparel, in a bit of a daze over my situation. But then I remembered that we always kept an extra key stashed away for emergencies such as this. I quickly retrieved the key, only to find it did not fit. Then I also recalled that we had given the real spare key to this door to friends who checked our place when we were away.
The key I now held in my hand was for the door around the back of the house. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem, but in the dead of winter it meant trudging through four-foot snowbanks in the howling wind and freezing temperatures to get there (for those of you not from Saskatchewan, that is not a best-case scenario).
My other option was to get into my vehicle (yes, we kept the keys in it, and, yes, I know we shouldn’t do that), drive to town and retrieve the garage door key from our friends (there are getting to be far too many keys in this story). Since both were at work, however, I would have to appear in public with bed hair, no makeup, and an outfit that, no doubt, would produce guffaws of laughter even from the most supportive of friends.
I chose the snow and icy wind over public humiliation. On a side note, I have never forgotten to unlock that door again!
My friend Patty has her own “locked out” story. It was her Grade 12 graduation day and her entire family had already left to attend the banquet. Patty and her escort were to follow after them and all she had to do was turn the locking mechanism on the house’s doorknob and close it shut. As she stepped out and was in the process of slamming the door shut, however, a gust of wind caught up the chiffon skirt of her gown and blew it directly in the path of the closing door.
There she was, standing on the front step of her house, facing streetwise, with the back of her gown caught in the now-locked door. No amount of tugging could free it without the danger of ripping a big hole in her beautiful garb.
There was only one thing to do (and no, she did not step out of her gown). Off went her date to get a key from her parents, while Patty stood on her front step enduring the curious stares from her neighbours. If that wasn’t bad enough, it started to rain (thankfully it was not a downpour). By the time her date returned, she wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry!
Yes, sometimes when one door closes, another one opens. But other times you just wish you weren’t so quick in shutting it closed in the first place!
