Which Side Are You On?

I wrote about getting locked out of my house the other night… so today I had the opposite problem. I am house-sitting for my friends while they are on vacation – they have a flat with a great roof… plants and a view of the tops of every building in the city – and I need to learn a new system. I went down the eighty stairs this morning at quarter to seven to jump in my tuk, and the gate was locked. I didn’t think it was a problem - just busted out the brown key. Which didn’t work. Orange key didn’t work, and the other one only fit in the door of their apartment. I tried each key again and again… nothing. I saw Seopia, the guy who drives the tuk, on the other side of the gate. I yelled out that I was stuck, so he came over and tried to help – he reached his hand through the metal opening and tried negotiating the key in the lock from the other side. He did the same trial by error with the keys… but there were only two options. We both stood there for about ten minutes. The gates are high – no climbing over this one. I was hoping someone else would come out and rescue me, but it was an incredibly quiet morning. So I called the school, sheepishly, and let them know I would be late. Really, the stories I have to tell them – not stuck in traffic or lost my keys or ran out of gas – but I’m locked IN my house. I went back up the stairs and ate a proper breakfast since I had time, and Soepia kicked it with a cup of coffee at the sidewalk shop. It kind of makes me nervous, though – I started thinking of my fire escape route if I couldn’t get out of the gate (don’t worry, Morterud girls, I have a plan). I missed most of my first class, and they have instructions for tomorrow just in case. It was pretty funny – for one day. It could be a tiresome game after a while. But it made me laugh – because isn’t that the way life is? We’re either stuck on the outside looking in or the inside looking out… and we aren’t happy being stuck in either spot. Well, I got back in, so I get at least one more night on the roof. I’ll see if I get to spend tomorrow morning here as well!