Remind Us To Never Go Into A Confined Space With You!

I just read this story about an employee who got trapped in the bathroom at work. I’ve been trapped twice — fortunately, not for as long as that story’s author.

The first time was in a restroom in a school theater. I had a film appreciation class on Friday afternoon, and I went to use the restroom after class. I was alone in there and the lights went out. The school had motion-activated lights in most areas. Some were more sensitive than others, so after a minute of no activity, the lights would turn off. Also, this restroom had no windows.

I was sitting there in the pitch dark, waving my arms around, trying to turn the lights back on, and then I heard a click at the door. At first, I thought someone was coming in. Then, I realized that was the sound of the door locking. I found my way out of the stall and to the door. It was locked from the outside, and there was no way to unlock it from the inside. I started screaming and pounding on the door.

The instructor finally heard me and let me out. Ours was the last class of the day, and there wasn’t anything scheduled in the theater until the following Monday. He had been in the process of locking up and didn’t think to check the restrooms before locking the doors. The whole thing probably lasted less than ten minutes, but it seemed a lot longer.

The second time, I got stuck in an elevator. My area was doing rolling blackouts. The company I worked for rented a giant generator. They would announce over the PA system that they were switching over to the generator and to stay off the elevator until they gave the all-clear.

I was coming back from lunch, and with my crappy timing, I missed the announcement. I was stuck between floors for about fifteen minutes.

Yeah, I am claustrophobic. Why do you ask?

Related:
For Every Weird Thing At Your Workplace, There’s A Story Like This