A bit of background, first: I live in an apartment building. Along with the par for the course elephants living above me come the requisite apathy of the leasing office to fix various fixtures within my apartment, as well as the corresponding apathy I bear in not bothering to ask them to fix the simple things.
And thus we come across my bedroom door. A bit of personal respite from my roommates on occasion is a good thing, necessitating a functional lock. Of course, this is one of the ways in which my apartment fails me. Quite simply, it doesn't lock.
At least that's what I had thought, previous to my experiences in the previous half year of residency. The door, after all, didn't quite fit in the door frame properly, leaving just enough space for the door to be simply pushed open. I chose to keep it constantly locked more out of a false sense of security than anything else.
Of course, anybody reading this can plainly see where this is heading. A puppy had come to visit one weekend while I was out of town, and a roommate had closed the door. I came back to a door that was locked (fine) and wouldn't open (not fine). The constantly changing humidity and temperature in the apartment had finally changed the way my door fit.
Have you ever taken a doorknob apart?
I set about with a phillips screwdriver and started unscrewing the door handle. With that piece of brass removed from the wood, I gazed upon the inner workings of my door. Yes, it was completely unfamiliar to my eyes. I tried twisting the shaft in a vain effort to open the door. Of course, as it was locked, this was just as successful as turning the doorknob in the first place. I got a handful of machinery grease as my reward.
Looking more closely at the shaft, I noticed that there was a slot inside of it that would perfectly fit a flathead screwdriver. Curious, I tried turning it with my screwdriver, and heard the most joyous sound: the click denoting the fact that my door was now unlocked. Turning further removed the bolt from the door frame, and I was in my room.
Of course, the following week I hadn't learned my lesson only to have it repeat once again. Hopefully, this cautionary tale will serve to either prevent a lockout situation or to educate on the process of resolving the situation.