Locked In!

Today was that fateful day when the RHDs, Plant Department and I walk through the halls to assess room damages. It is a long day and today it was full of fire and brimstone, as per the usual for a final checkout day.

My usual walk around buddy is named Mark. We do not always see eye to eye on things, but we usually have a good time on the Monday after Commencement. Today Mark and I were speeding through the Campus Apartments and then tackling Scott Hall. Usually we head straight to Brockway once the CA are complete, but our mission today was to check out Scott. We had a little bit too much fun. Often Mark and I try to solve some of the bigger mysteries of working in Residence Halls together, like how can we logistically get the tile replaced in those stairwells and install carpet in Tri Dorms the same day? How can we set up the deferred maintenance of the individual room heaters and still be ready for Badger Boys? How can we convince five more students to work for us (when we have no money to offer) to get their help with things on days like this? 

Today we were pondering those big life questions, when we walked into room 232B. Innocently checking the blinds for bends, the screens for holes, the walls for damage, and discussing how it was possible that the door handle on the inside of this room was missing. How did those residents survive without a door handle? Well I am sure you all can imagine what happened next...we realized we were sitting on the inside of the room with the door closed. There was no way out. The door cannot open without a handle. Mark asked if I had pliers or something like that along with me, I gave him the "eyes above the rim of the glasses" are you kidding me look and we started to laugh uncontrollably. We were stuck. In an almost empty residence hall. In the middle of the day. Even though I had a ruler to measure things, a camera to document things, a pencil and Room Condition Sheet we could not McGyver our way out of that room. It was almost too embarrassing to think about asking for help, we did not want to face the shame that we knowingly entered the room and allowed the door to close without a handle. Eventually we did have to call for help. A kindly RA (and All American Track Star) was close enough to come to our rescue. But Mark's strict instructions were to not tell this student of our situation until after he opened the door. Mark's instincts were right, we were sure to have been declined assistance for the sheer humor of it had the truth been out there. Whew, we dodged a bullet there.

Days like today are long and by the end of checking hundreds of mattresses for tears and doors for splits most of us are ready to quit our jobs. Some of those rooms are fragrant to say the least and others still have damage that cannot even be imagined. But it is all part of the Residence Lifecycle and comes with the territory. With that task behind us, summer starts now folks. Thank goodness!