Day 45: Today’s photo is actually a re-creation of an event from yesterday, which comes with a bit of a story.
Yesterday was Highline’s commencement festivities which, as last year, were held on campus (and it is so much nicer than the traditional stadium ceremonies). My wife and I had shown up early in the morning to help with setup, and then I’d been finding other ways to help out, so I’d been doing a lot by the time noon rolled around. So, a little tired, hungry, and slightly over-peopled, I headed back to my office in the library building to have lunch.
Also in the elevator with me were three of the librarians, also on their way to have lunch together. They got off on the fourth floor, and I got off on the fifth, sat at my desk, and enjoyed a quiet lunch.
When I finished eating, I checked my work email–and found an email from one of the librarians telling me which office they were in and inviting me down. While it was quite a while later, I figured I could see if they were still around, and since they were just a floor away, I took the stairs down…
..and the door to the fourth floor was locked. Oh, right, that makes sense. The library building was closed for the festivities, so that door would be locked. I went back up to my floor…
…and the door to the fifth floor was locked.
As were the doors to the sixth, third, and second floors, and the only door on the first floor is an alarmed emergency exit.
I was trapped in the stairwell.
So, rather bemused by the whole thing, I sat down and started by emailing all three librarians: “Are any of you still around? I’m trapped in the stairwell.” And then I started looking each of them up in Outlook to find their office numbers, hoping that one was around in in their office, or at least within hearing distance of their phone, so that I wouldn’t have to resort to calling campus security to let me out.
Thankfully, though they’d finished lunch and gone their separate ways by this point, one was in their office, and I was shortly able to send a follow-up email saying “I’ve been rescued!” And a little later, I found the other two out on the lawn enjoying the festivities, and we all had a laugh as they apologized for getting me stuck.
So, that was my mid-day adventure getting locked in a stairwell in the midst of the school’s graduation celebration. Hopefully it’s the last time this happens!