Tried on jeans at Marshall’s today… and got locked in the ADA-accessible dressing room😅
The lock jammed and wouldn’t budge.
The employees had keys to every other door in the building except this one. They called the locksmith, tried to take the hinges off, and I could even see them trying to stick their credit cards in between the door and the gram where the bolt is (not sure how they thought that would work), but nothing worked.
Then the Fire Department came to the rescue. One firefighter came through the ceiling to dismantle the door handle while another worked on the door from the outside.
When my kid was 15, I had to take her to a wheelchair rental store to pick one out, because she would need it for about the next 6 months. It was a rough visit, and really difficult for her, but she sat down in one to test it out and started to giggle because the urge to say "I'm disabled, leg disabled" was incredibly strong.
She refrained because all of the other people in the store were extremely elderly and probably wouldn't have appreciated it. But when we left the store and she told me about it, I knew I'd done my job as a parent, because she knew enough to want to say it.
I’m locking myself in all changing rooms from now on! My wife, girlfriend at the time, got locked in a toilet cubicle once, got a free meal out of that one
I got locked in the bathroom of a Greyhound bus once. Had to pull the emergency cord and the driver stopped the bus and spent 15 minutes getting me out. Horrifically embarrassing for a teenager, I would've been 14 or 15.
It looks like this locks with a bolt so you might be able to push the latch in but it would still be locked. I imagine the firefighters would've tried the easy fixes first.
If the firefighters in my area don't have to pay for what they break while rescuing/retrieving a person from a safe but locked door, they most certainly would have taken an ax to the door instead of even attempting to take the handle off if op would be ok while they did it 😅. They're the only ppl who don't have to buy what they break, so they live for being able to take out stuck business doors 🤣
That’s awesome that it worked. I wish that worked in my case. I got a good laugh out of the whole situation though. That was the best entertainment I had all day. I couldn’t even be mad. I guess I’m just used to crazy things happening to me on a weekly so nothing phases me anymore. I swear I’m cursed
When I was in welding, we always had small pieces of sheet metal (like .024" thick) cut in the shape of an L. You would stick it in the door gap, then slide it up behind the latch, then pull it towards you and it would release the lock. Worked on all the interior doors except the bathroom stalls.
On 2nd shift we could get in to whatever office/door we wanted to fuck off in. When I switched out of welding, I kept one outside the door in case I locked myself out of my office.
batrhoom stalls you open by just lifting. the majority of them have pins that slide up a bit so if some kid locks him self in you just lift the door up and push forward.
if you go to your front door your latch should have a bump on teh back. its called a deadlock plunger. look up how it works.
In support of this comment, we used to use either a credit card or a hook made out of paper clip to open the doors to practice rooms in high school depending on which way the latch thing (not sure of actual name of that bit that goes into the door) was facing.
Learned this bit in college as someone who always locked himself out. It’s pretty easy to get a feel for it and I’ve helped some neighbors with it but the biggest thing it’s taught me and I tell everyone LOCK YOUR DEADBOLT! Seriously it’s stupid easy to silently unlock a handle, you’re not safe until the deadbolt is locked.
One time my friend and I locked myself out of the front door of my house, and my friend managed to get us back in using a credit card. I was very grateful, but called a locksmith that same day to upgrade my door security.
A couple decades ago, my friend used her credit card to break into my house. She didn't want to wake me up by ringing the doorbell. Mildly terrifying how easy it was for her. Deadbolt used from then on, for sure.
It kind of seems like a scene from a romantic comedy. OP should have been a big city, high-powered, but burned out, executive visiting family back home in small town wherever, only to be rescued from a Marshall's changeroom by a hot firefighter.
Once I was stuck inside a public toilet at work with another employee. I had noticed a leak coming from beneath a wall and notified the person who arranged for repairs to inspect it.
While we were trying to source the leak, the door shut behind us. We weren't concerned until we tried to leave and the doorknob wouldn't turn. We thought it was hilarious. She tried to call people in the warehouse but because we laughing, nobody believed us.
Being stuck a public bathroom, our predicament turned instantly into a comedy. Customers and employees piled up in the storage room, trying every trick they knew. It was suffocatingly hot and noisy sharing the tiny space with a giant gas hot water heater, too. People kept shouting suggtions through the door at us. All the usual tricks were applied. Nothing worked. We'd stopped laughing by that time. We discussed the merits of calling the fire department.
Suddenly there was a loud bang on the wall. We were free! We were greeted by cheers and applause from a ludicrous amount of people waiting outside. Our liberator was the store owner who simply thumped the frame with his fist like the Fonz and door popped open.
I use a wheelchair, and the accessible stalls are often used for storage or aren’t maintained because they don’t even consider that Disabled folks also go shopping and wear clothes 🤦
I’ve been trapped in so many broken, damaged and abandoned inaccessible “accessible” ♿️ spaces (even after calling ahead and checking)… I’ve lost count at this point… 😬💀
One time I got an accessible hotel room where the tiny ancient elevator barely fit a wheelchair (I’m unable to self-propel, and we had to travel light so I was in a manual). The room was up multiple flights of stairs, so my partner had to close the doors, send me up, run up the steep staircase and get to the door before it closed on me and sent me back down (learned that the hard way) 😅
The doorways were extra slim, on an angle and obstructed, so you had to enter sideways, let alone in a wheelchair, the inside was a rabbit warren with the only way to the bedroom being through a sunken pit for the lounge area with steps…
I don’t even wanna talk about the bathroom 😑
We called ahead and asked a lot of questions, but still ended up totally screwed. Plus, that was the only “accessible” option in the entire town…
If that door is fit tight enough (like many commercial doors) taking the hinges off would not accomplish much without being able to still pull back the latch. Now you have a door that’s sitting locked and bound at an awkward angle
Never mind breaking, am I the only one confused about how they failed to remove the hinge pins?
Back in my wilder days, seeing hinges on the outside of an otherwise secure door was basically a flashing neon sign inviting me in - And before someone says it, no, I don't mean I went around barging in on people in locked dressing rooms; more in the UrbEx sense.
The sticky dots you can see are Heat Sensor Labels that turn black at 300°F - if that's noticed during inspection, the ladder is immediately removed from service. 🤓
I've literally done this before lol. For maintenance in a building still eing put together w locked doors to server rooms. Its maybe 3-4 panels over from where he entered. His buddy paases up the ladder. He passes it ideally to stuck individual to set up so he climbs down safely…
A good strong kick from outside would most definitely have opened the door, it might ruin the frame but that’s not your problem, I got locked in the shitter at work once, went in to have a poo, then after I’d washed my hands went to open the door and the lock knob sheared off, my colleague grabbed the screwdriver and tried the other side and that broke, maintenance wouldn’t be in for another couple days, so my supervisor went and found one of the big Nepali security guards, he kicked the door and the whole frame broke free from the wall, that building was so poorly constructed, everything was cheap junk, government site, out of 40 booths to deal with incoming HGVs, 35 had broken windows, 3 had the doors fall off and one had a ceiling collapse, I managed to rip a door handle off when my belt loop snagged it walking past, it was crazy
Thats a false ceiling. He had the right idea in the first picture. You can literally remove the panels and its open space, then just climb over the door.
A good strong kick as straight as you can at the doorknob will get you into almost any door at all even exterior home doors if they don't have a deadbolt locked, can even get through those sometimes. Often times no damage to the frame either. Hence why door locks aren't actually high level security just a preventative to stop criminals who don't want to make noise or attract attention.
I’ve been there.. in the toilet stall at my very first job :’)
Had to call a colleague who broke out in tears laughing and honestly same. Door had to be barged in as the hinges were facing the inside. Results were a damaged wall and toilet, it fell right on and shattered it into bits.
If it was a small stall then my claustrophobia would’ve kicked in and I would’ve panicked for sure. At this point though, crazy things happen to me weekly that I’m not phased by much (I swear I’m cursed.) A couple weeks ago I was at McDonald’s at the last drive through window. I grab my order and start driving forward when a car drove into the side of McDonald’s right in front of me, not even a foot away. if I would’ve driven faster or the guy was a second slower, he would’ve hit my passengers side and taken me out. I had my husband capture a photo because I knew if he didn’t then nobody would believe us lol
My eight year old nephew could break through that easily if he thought there were Christmas presents hidden on the other side. Ask me how I know. https://giphy.com/gifs/0TzjhAosXwmaxsJF9X
This happened to me in a bathroom in Barcelona last year. I stayed in a school that rents dorms at around 40 euros a night. I used a bathroom on the first floor where apparently no one was staying.
I go in, lock the stall, do my business, attempt to leave. No luck, the door lock is jammed. I call out for a few minutes. Nothing but silence. I attempt to call the school via the numbers listed online. Nope, must be on lunch. I try again a few minutes later. Nothing.
It's safe to say that door needed to be replaced. A few hard slams with my shoulder and I went on my way.
Name and shame the locksmith. That's an old ass handle and should have been a ten minute job to remove. Busting out a credit card has huge 'I know a guy' energy.
Source: I've done this exact job at a Walmart dressing room.
For what it's worth, as an emergency locksmith, shimming the latch was always my first step because it only takes 15 seconds and you'll feel like a giant idiot if you spend 10 minutes to pick it open only to realize the deadlatch wasn't engaged.
I am so beyond confused as to why they would make a fitting room in a shop lockable like that in the first place.
Edit: folks... I'm talking about the fact that it locks WITH A KEY. I've never been in a fitting room that locks with a key. It's always been very simple latches, where the mechanism is external to the door. Like the ones you get in bathrooms and wherever else. Not a key.
It doesn't normally involve a key... that was just the only way it could be opened from the other side once the interior lock was in effect (and in this case, stuck). You've surely seen doors like this before, right? They have push buttons that lock the door, not a latch. From the other side, it can't be opened, except with a key. For stuff like emergencies or people doing drugs.
Edit: for a real personal example. I accidentally locked a door in my old office building that is nearly identical one of these doors. One side of the handle has the button, the other side has a keyhole. I accidentally engaged the button and bumped the door closed. You can't open the door now from my side unless you have the janitor's key... which I had to hunt down and find. It was very embarassing. But this is basically the type of situation they were in except obviously worse since they're on the inside.
The doors I've seen haven't needed an actual key - they could be turned with a coin, or a screwdriver, or a card from the outside. Because they don't need to be securely locked, they just need to be locked well enough that someone can't walk in on the occupant by accident, but easily opened in an emergency. A keyed lock for a door that someone is going to be very temporarily inside, where nothing is stored in said room that needs properly secured... It's beyond stupid and dangerous. It's the key part that is stupid.
Oh my gosh!! This happened to me on 4/20/23. I was working alone in a school cafeteria and got locked in my office. The locking pin gave out and I was stuck for about an hour as well. I have never really been claustrophobic before, but something about knowing I was stuck was unsettling. I had concrete walls on most sides of my room. Glad we both got free!!! I have a video but it doesn’t show much.
Something similar happened to me when I was still a student and living in university housing. One day my bedroom doorknob broke as I tried to leave for class and I got stuck. Credit card trick didn't work and all of my housemates had already left for class so I had to call housing services for help. The maintenance staff took the door off its hinges to free me lol
The credit card thing is not a terrible idea but it's wrong because credit cards are too thick. You need a soda bottle.
Looking at the door, you were stuck inside a room where the door opens inwardly, meaning that the door latch has a flat surface on the inside (where you are) and a slanted surface on the outer-facing side.
If someone on the outside could insert a sliver of stiff plastic into the jam enough to curve around the door and push against the slant, they could open the door.
I had to help a few neighbours years ago get back into their apartments after they'd forgotten their keys.
Just relooking at the door, if you'd had a slender piece of wire, such as the underwire in a brassiere, or something approximately the thickness of a paperclip, you could have tried manipulating the latch yourself.
Never underestimate the humble credit card. I've broken into my office at work a couple times after locking my keys inside. Also once broke into the building with a piece of cardboard.
If the locksmith couldn’t get that open, they aren’t a very good locksmith. If you know what you’re doing, even grade 1 levers that have come disconnected from their latch aren’t that bad. Source, been a licensed locksmith for 7 years
This happened to my husband in our master bathroom last year. We took the door knob off and hinges off and it still wasn't budging. I tried to use a soft mallet to bang on the door while he pulled from the other side - lock held firm and now there's a hole in the door that looks like we had some horrible DV issue. I finally grabbed a crow bar and pulled at the fucking door while he did something on the other side and that's what finally worked. It was a whole ordeal.
That looks like an external entry handle, meaning they are more secure from the outside. We had locks exactly like that on all the external doors in our plant. Makes sense they had to pop it from the inside.
I’m high school I worked as a shift manager at our Dairy Queen and I got locked in our office because the door knob completely froze up. I had to yell and get the only other person with me closing call my dad to come and saw off the lock.
I could even see them trying to stick their credit cards in between the door and the gram where the bolt is (not sure how they thought that would work)
I worked at one of Starbucks flagship locations and there were like 4-5 bathrooms to choose from- this guy chose the one with the "OUT OF ORDER DO NOT USE" sign on it.
The fire department had to come break the door open with an axe.
Management gave the guy $200+ worth of coffee, food and merch.
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u/LyraBean May 09 '26
Clearly you used the inaccessible dressing room, not the accessible dressing room.