Out of Necessity and Stupidity...

Along with what I’m currently reading, I am also studying—yes, I said studying—Lock Picking for Complete Beginners & Intermediates. You might think that I am examining this manual as research for one of my characters. Or that I seek to add a new skillset to my résumé. Or that my salary as a teacher is so unsatisfactory that I need to pursue another lucrative avocation.

But no. The reason why I am reading this book stems from my own stupidity. Plain and simple.

You see, in my classroom, I have a closet that I use a keyed padlock to keep certain items secure. The long U-shaped shackle of said padlock connects the two handles of the closet sideways, and the solid padlock body is placed on the shackles with the lock mechanism on the bottom, or facing left. One day, hastily, I mistakenly placed the body of the padlock on the shackles backwards, with the keyhole facing the right. Now, when I insert the key into the keyhole, it does not go all the way in because a door handle is in the way.

It’s frustrating. I even asked the head custodian to try. She also could not do it for the reasons stated above.

So now, I have two choices: either take a crowbar to the thing and rip the doors off, or, more conservatively, learn how to pick locks and see how that will work for me.

I’ll keep you updated with battle reports. Hopefully, it will take less than three rounds.