The Unforgettable Lunch Break

When I was a kid, I got locked in my grandmother's bathroom.  She had one of the old door locks, and my family still says to this day that I just didn't know how to use it.  I still say that it was stuck.

Fast forward to more than twenty years later to this week, it was a some what normal Thursday (whatever you can say normal is for a 1st grade classroom).  I had taken my kids to the bathroom and to lunch.  I walked back to the teacher's bathroom to wash my hands before eating my lunch.  Right as the door shut, I knew something was wrong.  You know how you get that feeling that something is not right.  Well, the door knob felt weird when I opened it, but I did not think anything about it until I got in the restroom.  As soon as the door shut, I saw that the lock was all the way out.  I immediately tried to open it, but you guessed it the door knob was broken and I was stuck.  To top it all off I did not have my phone! Here I am stuck in a bathroom with about 20 minutes left until my class would be waiting on me or better yet until my assistant realized something was wrong.  What was I to do?

The dreaded bathroom!

Right before I had went in the bathroom, another teacher was taking her kids to the bathroom.  I knew that she was in the hallway a little ways away from the teacher's bathroom that I was stuck in, and I figured if I yelled and banged that she might hear me.  Thank goodness she did!  She tried to open it, but it would not work.  She got our instructional facilitator who was in her office beside the bathroom, but no luck.  They called the main office to tell them what was going on.  Soon the principal was on the other side of the door making sure I was ok and not claustrophobic (Thankfully, I'm not.).  At this point, all I could do was laugh.

I tried to help out on my side of the door, but all I had was a door stop to work with and that did not help.  The others tried to break in with a card, but the card just kept coming through on my side underneath the lock.  Eventually, they decided to call the maintenance department at the Board to come help, but they were at lunch.  At one point the principal had went to tell my assistant what was going on, the teacher had went back to the classroom with her students, and the instructional facilitator had went to go get some tools from the gym teacher.  So there I was left alone trapped standing up in this tiny bathroom, when all of the sudden the door knob started moving.  I thought someone was trying to get into the bathroom to use it, so I politely said "I am stuck in the bathroom and the others have went to get help." Then our male custodian (one of very few male figures at our school) started laughing and stating yes he was just trying to help get it unstuck.  All I could do was laugh some more.  What an awkward situation!

 The sign on the inside of the bathroom door that I memorized while in there!

After more than thirty minutes of being stuck in the bathroom, the ladies were able to break the door knob off and get the door opened.  I was never more relieved to see my students in the hallway cheering.

Side note - A few years ago, another teacher got stuck in the teacher's bathroom that is directly across the hall from this one.  That is why I typically always go to this bathroom.

Lessons Learned:

• Any bathroom door can get stuck!
• Always tell someone you are going to the bathroom.
• Take your phone to the bathroom just in case.

The sign that is currently on the door.

Lets just say that I will never forget that lunch break or lack thereof.  (Don't worry I did get to eat my lunch after I got my students settled in the classroom with the assistant.)  Now, I really won't live it down with my family about bathroom doors.

Elizabeth