# I locked myself outside. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254 "2003-08-10T21:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/1 "2003-08-10T21:17:03Z")
The other night, I locked myself out of my apartment. I was doing the laundry, and I can get to the laundry room through the back way. The front door was locked, and I went through the back sliding door. I closed it, got the clothes, went to go back inside my apartment. Much to my surprise, it was locked. The ONLY way to lock the back sliding door is to do it from the inside, and there were only my mother and little brother asleep inside. They’d been asleep for a while, and my mother knew I’d be going back and forth for the laundry. I had to go over to her window and bang on it to wake her up. I yell, “Mom, I locked myself outside.” She gets up and goes to the window, all the while, I see her shaking her head. She asked me how I managed to lock myself out. Once I figure that out myself, I’ll let her know. I don’t think she was mad that I woke her to let me in. I think she was more disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/2 "2003-08-10T21:20:58Z")
So if the only way to lock the back door is from inside, it wasn’t you that locked it from the outside, right? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/3 "2003-08-10T21:39:51Z")
It was probably your little brother who locked you out! Last time I locked myself out I was stood outside for 2 hours in the middle of winter. NOT fun! ---
**Author:** ![lovelyluka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@lovelyluka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelyluka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/4 "2003-08-10T21:44:49Z")
I can top that. So I decide I want to lay outside and get a tan. However, in order to, um, expose the most amount of skin to the sun, I mix and match my bikini so the top doesn’t match the bottom. I wrap a towel around me, don’t bother with shoes, step outside and close the back door… …wait a second. Did I, out of habit, just lock the door behind me? :smack: All the doors to my house are locked. My boyfriend has the spare key. My roommate is at work, twenty minutes away. I’m stranded outside, in a mismatched bikini and a towel. Fortunately I have very sweet (and understanding) elderly neighbors, and the woman let me borrow a housedress and call a locksmith. But geez, talk about one of the most embarrassing moments of your life… ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/5 "2003-08-10T21:59:31Z")
I can’t recall whether it was my Dad or some guy from a TV show that got questioned by the cops for trying to break into his own home after he got locked out. I’m pretty sure it was my dad. At the white house in Hilo after a night out drinking. Maybe you can hide an extra key in the laundry room to prevent future occurances? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/6 "2003-08-10T22:05:32Z")
You know, now that I think about it I’ve been locked out myself too. I’ve spent the night sleeping in the hallway outside my apartment a few times. The most frustrating thing was I could hear my grandmother walking around the kitchen and I could bang door and ring the doorbell all I want. She can’t hear very well. So freaking frustrating, she’s mere feet away from me but I just can’t get her attention. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/7 "2003-08-10T22:47:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AngelicGemma \* > **It was probably your little brother who locked you out!** Naw, it wasn’t my little brother, he’s only seven and doesn’t know how to work the lock. Everyone was asleep, it was about eleven when this happened. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/8 "2003-08-11T00:20:37Z")
Does anyone in your family sleepwalk? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/9 "2003-08-11T01:10:54Z")
One of my other brothers do, but he lives with our dad. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/10 "2003-08-11T01:18:41Z")
Maybe the 7-year-old does as well. ---
**Author:** ![Andries\_Pretorius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/74df32/32.png) [@Andries\_Pretorius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andries_Pretorius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/11 "2003-08-11T01:31:44Z")
You need a lock with a number pad. They are getting really cheap now at Home Depot. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/12 "2003-08-11T01:36:17Z")
I have this sort of sliding door as well, and I’ve had it lock on me when I stepped outside, too. What happens is that the lock toggle is a bit loose, and if I close the door firmly enough, it will sometimes cause the latch to flip over, therefore locking the door. Fortunately, this has never happened to me when the front door was also locked. Could something like that have happened with your door? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/13 "2003-08-11T02:30:41Z")
That may be the case. Nothing else I thought of made any sense (communist ninjas bent on world domination had to keep me from folding clothes, or else their plan would crumble). I just tried it, and it locked. This time though, I was inside. I am such a :wally ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/14 "2003-08-11T03:09:18Z")
lol reminds me of the time i went shopping for groceries, came back and found myself locked out. I took only one key, since we don’t lock the second one unless there’s no one home. Alas, the last person inside gone out and locked both. Did i mention it was for 2 hours, in middel of a heat wave, and i had among other things, a box of icecream? The shade didn’t help much either lol:D ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/15 "2003-08-11T17:34:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 5U1C1D3 \* > \*\*Did i mention it was for 2 hours, in middel of a heat wave, and i had among other things, a box of icecream? > > The shade didn’t help much either lol:D \*\* Bet the icecream did! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/16 "2003-08-11T18:26:10Z")
Ha ha ha! You fool! [Locking yourself out of the house!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=195879) I’ve never heard of anything so stupid! Ha ha ha! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/17 "2003-08-11T18:48:47Z")
Another affirmation of two essentials in the back of my wallet: a house key, and a car key. Saved my ass several times. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/18 "2003-08-11T18:55:54Z")
Rand Mcnally: I locked myself outside. Beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Fredge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fredge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredge)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/19 "2003-08-12T01:15:17Z")
Last summer I moved into my new house. The nearest person I know well enough to trust with a copy of the key is my sister - 20 miles away. Foreward to this past winter. I leave for work at 6 AM, going from the house to the garage. As soon as I shut the door that separates the house from the garage I realized my keys were locked inside. Unfortunately, it was the middle of winter and I had no coat since I normally just blast the heater in the car. Luckily I had my cell phone and my brother-in-law was unemployed at the time so he could bring me a spare key. He took about 35 minutes to get to me. I’ve decided that blue-from-cold is not quite my color. ---
**Author:** ![benthames](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@benthames](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benthames)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254/20 "2003-08-12T02:32:58Z")
Last winter, I woke up one morning to find my car had been towed because of a snow emergency (They had to plow the street, so they moved my car for me.) I couldn’t spring my car out of the impound lot until the next day, so to blow of steam, I went out to shovel the driveway. It was maybe twenty degrees out, maybe a little less, so I decided to go out in just a sweater. Anyway, i locked myself out and had no money. I ended up having to walk ten blocks to a pay phone where i could call someone who lives a half hour away to get a key. Not my most shining moment. I got a minor case of frostbite on my fingers. However, the driveway was free of snow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locked-myself-outside/194254.md?page=2)