Today, I learned the hard way why:
a) You should know the pass-code to your lock before you clamp it on a locker.
b) Why you might as well keep the code on your person at all times.
Allow me to explain…
I have been out of town for a few weeks so hadn’t had any need for my lock. But I’ve had it for so long I didn’t think anything of it when I headed to the gym today and used it to seal up my locker. An hour and a half later I returned to the change room only to discover that the code had completely slipped my mind. I tried a variety of sequences that seemed right for 20 minutes — to no avail.
I then gave up and headed to the front desk to ask the staff for help — only to decide at the last second when the kind gentleman looked up to help me that — I had it! I didn’t. I did, however, scurry back to the change room only to discover I was still the forgetful mess I thought I was. I slinked back to the desk and this time stuck it out while the gentleman paged a variety of people in an effort to get someone to cut off the lock for me.
After a good chunk of time, a women came by, grabbed a heavy-duty looking pair of lock-cutters and we headed to the change room. After 10 minutes of her attempting to cut the darn thing open, she announced it was not possible. She disappeared and returned a few moments later with a smaller pair of cutters. They (unsurprisingly) did not work. She then announced she would need a man.
As I sat there staring at my mangled old lock that had treated me so well I heard the woman booming into the locker room “MAN IN THE CHANGE ROOM. LADIES, THERE IS A MAN IN THE CHANGE ROOM. WE HAVE A LOCK TO CUT!” I turned down the aisle to see the woman leading a man through the change room with a towel over his head as women all over stared in my direction. The towel-clad staff member managed to cut my lock free, my purse was returned to me, the towel was secured once more and he was lead out the door.
In their rush to scurry him out of the room, however, they left the array of lock-cutters behind. So I had the grand honor of walking through the change room with lock-cutters in hand as the-girl-who-needed-an-army-to-get-her-purse-back.
Oh, and did I mention this was my first time at this gym? Yup. That it was.
Well, lesson learned. I will absolutely be writing down the pass-code to my next lock. I figure I would rather run the risk of someone finding it and breaking into my locker than having to ask towel-man to come to my rescue once more.
