# Would it kill you to unlock BOTH doors? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377 "2005-04-14T23:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/21 "2005-04-15T18:06:14Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Anyone else ever stop at the tape and measure your height and your friends heights? No? Never mind then. šŸ˜‰ I do that, I also turn sideways. They have one of these at the closest Popeyeā€™s. I figyre of the place gets robbed, itā€™ll give some detective a grin. Ok, so Iā€™m weird. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/22 "2005-04-15T19:35:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyone else ever stop at the tape and measure your height and your friends heights? No? Never mind then. Do you do this before or after emptying the cash register? ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/23 "2005-04-15T21:00:23Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Next time, turn around after going inside. Many businesses have a tape measure attached next to the doorway to help get a description of criminals. If so, they obviously want to route people through the door next to the tape. [Ron White] ā€œIā€™m between 6ā€™2ā€ and 6ā€™4", depending on which convenience store Iā€™m coming out ofā€¦" [/Ron White] ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/24 "2005-04-15T21:37:34Z")
> [@5que](#): > > [Ron White] > ā€œIā€™m between 6ā€™2ā€ and 6ā€™4", depending on which convenience store Iā€™m coming out ofā€¦" > [/Ron White] _lightbulb appears over head_ NOW I get it. I was wondering just what that meant. Anyways, this reminds me of a phenomenon Iā€™ve witnessed at school. One A&A building has several sets of double doors, but Iā€™ve never seen both in a pair open at once. People will file back and forth through one door, often waiting for traffic in the other direction to clearso they can go through. The other door isnā€™t locked, itā€™s just that no one uses it. Iā€™ve done this myself, and I donā€™t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/25 "2005-04-15T22:41:57Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > Anyways, this reminds me of a phenomenon Iā€™ve witnessed at school. One A&A building has several sets of double doors, but Iā€™ve never seen both in a pair open at once. People will file back and forth through one door, often waiting for traffic in the other direction to clearso they can go through. The other door isnā€™t locked, itā€™s just that no one uses it. Iā€™ve done this myself, and I donā€™t get it. Thatā€™s what Iā€™m talking about. If Iā€™m ever down your way, youā€™ll be able to recognize me easily. Iā€™m the one that will bypass the herd of sheep and open the second door. And right before I do, Iā€™ll say ā€œHmmm, I wonder if, just maybeā€¦?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/26 "2005-04-16T16:17:55Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Do you do this before or after emptying the cash register? heh. After emptying the junk food rack. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/27 "2005-04-16T17:08:43Z")
Where I once worked we had one set of doors that for about two years was a one open/one closed affair until they just locked the whole entrance permanently. The reason was that one of the doors was misaligned and if you shut the doors simultaneously in the wrong way the two glass doors would smash against each other at the edges. They never broke but Iā€™m sure if you tried it with enough gusto you could have created at least a healthy crack (and of course I always fantasized about both doors shattering simultaneously - fun fun). Never ones to spend money on repairs when a cheaper solution presented itself they just locked one of the doors. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/28 "2005-04-16T17:16:50Z")
A friend of mine works at a local deli type restaurant. They keep one door locked because of the way the wind blows through the strip mall. It takes the door with great force and smashes it into the concrete wall behind it. They just keep it locked when the wind is blowing. ---
**Author:** ![wonderwench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/35a633/32.png) [@wonderwench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderwench)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/29 "2005-04-16T17:20:47Z")
Two theories: - The Door Locker And Unlocker Union negotiated overtime pay for unlocking both doors, for which the greedy capitalist corporations do not wish to pay. - The Door Locker And Unlocker Guild handles all doors on a piece work basis (they are paid for each locking/unlocking action) for which the greedy capitalist corporations do not wish to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/30 "2005-04-16T21:21:11Z")
I hate this as well, but sometimes there is a reason for it. In locations where the wind blows, with both doors unlocked they will sometimes pull open slightly and allow air through, which uses up a lot of energy. Or theyā€™ll even bang and rattle. With one door locked, this doesnā€™t happen. All in all, a horrible design. Thereā€™s a great book called ā€œThe design of everyday thingsā€ which illustrates more of these idiotic designs. For example, those glass doors with a horizontal bar on each side, giving you absolutely no clue whether to push or pull them open. to make it worse, some of the ā€˜fancyā€™ onces have hidden hinges and the bar right across the entire door, so you donā€™t even know which side of the door to push. So basically youā€™ve got a one in four chance of getting it right. The way to do it is quite simple - you put the handle on the side of the door opposite the hinge. On the side that you push, you put a push plate. On the side that you pull, you put a pull bar. There - instant, intuitive understanding of how to operate the door. Yet you still see idiotic designs that confuse people. The doors with hidden locks are another example, since stores always seem to leave one of the two doors locked, giving you a 50-50 chance of getting through the door correctly. If you must lock one door, how hard would it be for the designer to provide a visible sign that the door is locked? Or better yet, design the doors in such a way that itā€™s equally easy to unlock each door, and having both unlocked wonā€™t cause strange banging or wind opening? ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/31 "2005-04-17T01:52:37Z")
The doors at the Victoria bus terminal are another great one. The double doors there are designed so that one opens in and the other opens out. Basically, as you face the doors, whether from the outside or the inside, you would push the right-hand door and pull the left-hand door to open them. Unfortunately, theyā€™ve just got horizontal bars across the doors, as described by **Sam Stone** , and there are no ā€œpushā€ or ā€œpullā€ signs anywhere. So invariably, what youā€™ll see happening is someone will come walking up, try to push the left-hand door open (the one you have to pull), bounce off of it, try to pull the right-hand door open and once again fail. Theyā€™ll then generally pause, looking puzzled, and then either manage to guess the correct action to get a door to open, or luck out because someone else is leaving the building at that moment. I find that it provides some entertainment while Iā€™m waiting for the bus up to the ferry to leave. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/32 "2005-04-17T14:07:07Z")
I blame the Fucking _French_ ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/33 "2005-04-17T16:13:34Z")
We have one door locked in the lobby of the hotel that I work at. God knows why the built the place with two doors thirty years ago- probably just to look more stately or something. But if you actually open the door on the right, you run a good chance of whacking someone and render the continental breakfast area unuseable. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/34 "2005-04-17T21:20:40Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > I blame the Fucking _French_ As opposed to the French that donā€™t fuck? I didnā€™t realize that they could be grouped that way! ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/35 "2005-04-17T21:44:02Z")
my shop we had one door locked for a long time because there was no closer on it. we opened it for deliveries and such, like when I move my coffee roaster but kept it locked the rest of the time. retail stores that get shoplifted a lot will keep the door you push open from the inside locked to slow down would be thieves. then there is wind, broken doors etc. as for fire code, you are only required to have both doors unlocked if you have an occupancy that warrants it. Many places have double doors for getting big stuff through, but only need one open at a time. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377/36 "2005-04-18T14:21:51Z")
At my last job they kept one door locked for no good reason, and put up a sign on it that said ā€œPlease Use Other Door ----\>ā€ However, at some point they changed which door they locked (because the receptionist complained that the wind blew her papers), but didnā€™t bother to move or change the sign. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-kill-you-to-unlock-both-doors/299377.md?page=1)