Late, Locked Out, and Lacking Clothes

So there I was. Nothing on but a pair of boxer shorts and Timberland boots, soaking wet, using a crowbar on my closet. How did we get here? What led to this moment in time?

Waking up late is never fun. I have always prided myself on the motto:

‘If you’re early, you’re on time, if you’re on time, you’re late.”

Being late happens sometimes though, doesn’t it? Things happen. Alarms don’t go off. Traffic. Could be a variety of things. The worst part, however, is it always happens when you really don’t need it to, and sometimes, the situation turns downright comical.

A few years earlier I had moved back home to help out with things. I went right back into my old bedroom that my sister had taken over when I had moved out many years ago. When my sister moved into my room after my departure for college, she wanted a closet added into it. You see, my room never had a closet. My sister’s room had 2, so one was mine and one was hers. We were 8 years apart, and I didn’t mind, even if she did. Anyway, when I left, my dad added a closet to my old bedroom.

It was different being back home after being away for so long. Had been through lots of things, and although ‘home’ needed me back, I needed it just as much.

Let’s fast forward to a cold, rainy day in November…..

As a teacher, I have always prided myself on being there for the students. I don’t like to miss work…and I am always early to get prepared and be ready each day. This particular day in November was part of a testing week, so stress is a little higher and being early is an asset. It was like any other night (the day before the occurrence), but for some reason, I decided to do some heavy cleaning in my room. After doing so, I closed the closet door. Keep in mind, I have never closed this door in my life. It had always been open for as long as I remember it being there…I would find out soon enough why.

I woke up to my alarm going off like any other morning. It was also pouring rain outside. I usually sleep with my window open, and the sound created excellent sleeping weather. After turning my alarm off, I did what needed to be done around the house before I got ready. Once things were taken care of, it was time to get dressed and head to work. After showering, I went to my room to get out my clothes to get dressed.

When I grabbed the doorknob to the closet, panic decided to creep in. The doorknob turned freely over and over again, but the mechanism would not work. My pants and shirts were in the closet, and I couldn’t get to them. I turned and pulled and turned and pulled, but nothing was happening. I sat on my bed, in my boxers, wondering what i could do…

The door needed to open. Work was about 35-40 minutes away and I should have left about 5 minutes ago. All clothes except underwear were in the closet. I hadn’t really unpacked like I should have, and my dresser didn’t have much in it. My shoes (except my boots), pants, and shirts were in this small closet that was locked up like Fort Knox. I needed to get into this closet and fast…I had to go educate children!

It was time to get some tools.

I stood up and put on my boots. I ran outside with nothing on but my boxers and boots in the cold and pouring rain to the barn behind our house. My dad has lots of tools, but the first thing I saw was a crowbar. I grabbed it and made my way back to my room to break into my own closet.

I almost slipped running back up the ramp of the porch. I tried to shake myself off like a dog before walking back in, but time was wasting, and I had to go to work. I rushed back inside, ran to my room, and began to use the crowbar like a naked cat-burglar. Crowbars up!

So there I was. Nothing on but a pair of boxer shorts and Timberland boots, soaking wet, using a crowbar on my closet. After a few minutes, I got the door open and grabbed my clothes. I was running way behind. I threw on the first shirt I could get ahold of and pulled some pants on. Of course, they stuck to me because I hadn’t dried off from the rain outside. I didn’t care, it was time to go to work. I left the crowbar on the bed, grabbed my bag and took off.

I made it to work safe, but late. I may or may not have broken any traffic laws on the way. I did get there before the kids unloaded from the buses, so that’s a good thing. Never in a million years did I think, as a grown man, I would be breaking into my own closet, but I did.

If you are wondering, my closet door remains open to this day. I now lay out all of my clothes the night before. I also keep a crowbar behind my bedroom door, you know, just in case!

Thanks for reading!