# I locked myself out this weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772 "2010-05-17T15:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/21 "2010-05-18T03:32:04Z")
I’ve locked myself out a couple of times, but what was really fun was when I locked myself _in_. One door to the whole place, and the lock plate or whatever it’s called lost it’s screw. I couldn’t open the door to get out, and let me tell you, that’s not a good feeling. I am a homebody and if I didn’t need anything I could spend days on end at home no problem, but the second I feel _trapped_ at home, I freak out. Apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/22 "2010-05-18T04:27:27Z")
My neighbours have a spare key. And I’ve also got one hidden in the garden. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/23 "2010-05-18T04:41:22Z")
I’ve always carried a spare car key in my wallet. Except for the time I drove out of town with my new car and … My house has double deadbolt locks so I can’t lock myself out. If there is some bizarre event that leaves me locked out I have friends with keys. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/24 "2010-05-18T12:46:08Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I can see if there’s any way my gigantic key (and it _is_ gigantic) can be copied Is this a key you received from the Mayor during some sorta ceremony after you saved the town from certain destruction? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/25 "2010-05-18T15:25:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is this a key you received from the Mayor during some sorta ceremony after you saved the town from certain destruction? I’ve tried to leave my past behind. My hero days are over. I did fight my own ignorance this morning, though. Thanks to the suggestion of my girlfriend and you guys, I learned that I can, indeed, lock my door with the key from the outside. So if I can now break myself of the habit of automatically locking the door by hand when I open it, I’ll be golden. Of course, I recently started a thread about how I can’t break the habit of getting to Google searches by typing “[www.google.com](http://www.google.com)” instead of using the Google search bar I already have in my browser. I’m not sure there’s much hope for me. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/26 "2010-05-18T15:30:44Z")
Not much good using Google to search for your keys, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/27 "2010-05-18T16:18:39Z")
I have found that I can reach through the dog door, open the utility closet, grab the dustpan off the lower hook, and use it to knock the spare key off the upper hook, whereupon it falls within my reach. Not the most secure situation, but I don’t think a burglar would know to do all that. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/28 "2010-05-18T17:31:56Z")
When I was a little kid, I carefully locked myself and my mother out of a running car while she was in the grocery store. Luckily I only had half a dozen blocks to walk home. By now, I can’t close a locking door without my keys in my hand. That’s just about any door: my house, my car, **Zyada** ’s car, and so on. When I go out in the yard, the door isn’t closed, it isn’t locked, and I have my keys in my hand anyway. (Just watch - I’ll be nervous about it for days now.) ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772/29 "2010-05-19T15:04:50Z")
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this here before. Keys in ignition, car running: Check. Spare key in bookbag, in back of car: Check. Spare key in coat, in back of car: Check. Spare key in apartment, which is locked: Check. Downstairs neighbor not home so I can’t even get in the building: Check. Roommate asleep, not answering the phone: Check. Snowstorm: Check. Luckily I had AAA and the neighbor across the street let me use their phone to call. I only had to sit on my porch, shivering and wet, for less than an hour after I called AAA. It took me days to get warm again though. I got my first cell phone shortly after that. By the way, I had been wearing my jacket, but when I got out of the (running) car to clear the snow from my parking spot, I got hot from the exertion and I put my jacket in the back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-out-this-weekend/539772.md?page=1)