{"id":96,"date":"2018-06-16T01:21:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T01:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/b\/david_blog\/?p=96"},"modified":"2018-09-26T02:17:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T02:17:39","slug":"neighbor-lady-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidthelocksmith.com\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/06\/16\/neighbor-lady-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbor Lady"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I\u2019m aware that in the course of my work I can make folks a little uneasy. My cargo van is dingy and unmarked, and looks out of place in most of the neighborhoods I drive it through. My hands are generally dirty and I often have a drill hooked to my belt. People see me and they get the feeling I might not belong there, not least if I\u2019m picking the lock on a mailbox or looking for an open window. People eye me with suspicion as I drive down their streets. I do my best to defuse those concerns with a smile or a friendly wave, and it\u2019s surprising how quickly the wariness drops from their faces when I do.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I try to do my work with a certain amount of discretion and I\u2019m always considerate of my customers\u2019 privacy. My customers don\u2019t necessarily want it advertised that they goofed up and locked themselves out, or that they\u2019re preparing to rent out their space in violation of HOA rules, or that they have to evict a member of the family. It isn\u2019t my place to say what anyone else knows about their doings. Sometimes, though, I’m put in a position where I have to decide whether it\u2019s more important that I respect a customer\u2019s privacy or that I allay a neighbor\u2019s suspicions. My rule of thumb is that I should try to offer just enough information to quell people\u2019s legitimate concerns about what I might be up to, but I never feel compelled to satisfy a neighbor\u2019s idle curiosity at the expense of my customer\u2019s privacy.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I had to make this type of judgment call when I went to change the lock on the front door of an upscale waterfront condo in Kirkland. After I got into the building using the entry code given to me by the property manager, I went up to the third floor, retrieved the key from the contractor box hanging from the door, and went in. The apartment was capacious, with high ceilings, fine millwork, and a magnificent view of Lake Washington. As I got to work taking the complicated lock off the door, I saw the elderly woman across the hall poke her head out of her front door and eye me nervously. \u201cJust changing locks between tenancies,\u201d I said. I didn\u2019t think I was telling her anything she wouldn\u2019t have known or been able to figure out just from living where she did and observing me. We exchanged some pleasantries and she went back into her apartment.<\/p>\n

Shortly after that I had to go out to my van for my toolbox. As I was walking out the front door, I passed another elderly resident of the building. She wore an expensive cardigan and her hair was elegantly coiffed. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d she asked me with an air of authority. I smiled at her but didn\u2019t slow my pace or offer anything in the way of an answer. When I came back from my van, she was lingering at the door. I used the keypad again to enter and she followed me into the elevator. She asked me again what I was doing and I lifted the tools in my hand as I said, \u201cI\u2019m working.\u201d \u201cWhat are you doing? And in which unit?\u201d Her tone smacked of privilege. I looked her squarely in the face and said, \u201cMa\u2019am, it\u2019s not really any of your business.\u201d \u201cYes it is my business,\u201d she said. \u201cI live in this building!\u201d \u201cNo ma\u2019am, you\u2019re just being nosy,\u201d I told her. \u201cWell, if you won\u2019t explain yourself then I\u2019m going to call the police!\u201d she said. This was escalating quickly. \u201cI invite you to do so,\u201d I told her with a nod of my head. For a moment she was flustered, her bluff having been called. She seemed unaccustomed to not being acknowledged.<\/p>\n

The elevator bell dinged and the door opened onto the third floor. Enraged and indignant, the woman followed me out of the elevator and to the door of the unit on which I was working. I took the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. The woman tried to follow me into the apartment. Not wanting to let a stranger into an apartment that was not mine, I said, \u201cMa\u2019am, you can\u2019t come in here,\u201d and I quickly closed the door most of the way to block her from entering. She put both of her palms on the door and tried to force her way in. Now, I\u2019m a little guy\u20145\u20196\u201d tall and 125 pounds with my hair wet\u2014but I\u2019m still an adult man. There\u2019s little chance of me losing the door-pushing game to an old lady. I planted my foot in front of the door so it wouldn\u2019t open more than about six inches. Through the gap she called, \u201cGerald! Gerald!\u201d I looked down the apartment\u2019s spacious empty corridor as the echo of her reedy voice bounced around the walls, and was struck by the weirdness of what was happening. \u201cThis is a vacant unit,\u201d I told her. Leaving my foot where it was, I crouched down and got to work at taking the lock off the door so I could rekey it. All the while she was feebly trying to push the door open. Again she insisted that I tell her what I was doing. If she\u2019d simply stopped and looked at me, she would have figured it out pretty quickly, but she was more interested in being validated than getting answers. I won\u2019t swear this really happened, but in my memory she said, \u201cI have a right to know what you\u2019re doing. I live in this building!\u201d as she balled up her fists and stomped her foot.<\/p>\n

The woman from across the hall heard the commotion and came out. \u201cI don\u2019t know why this guy is being so obnoxious! He won\u2019t tell me what he\u2019s doing!\u201d They discussed the situation and I tried to keep my cool as I worked on the lock, but the stress of the situation made me a little clumsy and slowed me down. I also replied a few times to the angry woman\u2019s rebukes. I never raised my voice but I\u2019m sure I let my annoyance show. When I had the lock off the door and was ready to bring it to my van for rekeying, I wasn\u2019t sure what I should do. I stood up and said, \u201cNow I have to go back to my van for a few minutes. You MAY NOT go in there while I\u2019m gone.\u201d She looked surprised and insisted that she wouldn\u2019t go into an apartment that wasn\u2019t hers. I was comforted that the other neighbor was there.<\/p>\n

When I got back, the hallway was empty. I reassembled the freshly rekeyed lock, secured the apartment, and deposited the new keys into the contractor box. Then I knocked on the neighbor\u2019s door so I could apologize to her. She shouldn\u2019t have been dragged into that mess, I told her. She was sweet as she expressed her sympathy and wished me a better day moving forward. I didn\u2019t see the other woman on my way out of the building.<\/p>\n

This episode was peculiar because I\u2019m always thinking that neighbors should be more vigilant. Attentive neighbors are one of the best lines of defense against burglaries. I sometimes shake my head in disbelief when I see the noisy and destructive ways that burglars have broken into homes in tightly populated neighborhoods, and learn that no neighbors approached them or called the police. This lady in the cardigan was being vigilant. She was also being rude, nosy, and entitled. But I imagine that somewhere underneath all that she was concerned for her and her neighbors\u2019 security, and we should all want that from the old ladies who live nearby. I would have preferred that she be polite to me, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m aware that in the course of my work I can make folks a little uneasy. My cargo van is dingy and unmarked, and looks out of place in most of the neighborhoods I drive it through. My hands are generally dirty and I often have a drill hooked to my belt. People see me … Continue reading “Neighbor Lady”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNeighbor Lady - David the Locksmith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019m aware that in the course of my work I can make folks a little uneasy. 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