I WAS GOING UP, BUT MY KEYS DECIDED TO GO DOWN

Another Friday night, another concert cancelled by yet another winter storm. Even absent the climatic catastrophe, my day was already frustrating enough having to deal with seemingly endless computer problems while trying to fill in for a vacationing colleague.

No matter. All that was behind me. I had a bite to eat and had just completed a long, relaxing walk in the snow. Before heading back up to my apartment, I stopped and checked the mail. I discovered that one of my letters was encased in plastic with an apology note from Canada Post saying that it was damaged in transport. No biggie.

I headed toward the elevator and hit the button. The door opened and as I stepped inside, I felt something shift in my hands, sliding past the plasticcovered envelope. A moment later, I heard my keys hit the floor. A thought came to my head that I hoped they don't drop into the gap between the elevator and the lobby floor, but before I could look down, I heard the sound of metal tinkling against concrete.

My keys had fallen down the elevator shaft.

This was a matter and was a biggie.

Funnily enough, this didn't ruin my mood. It was unfortunate. It completely wrecked my weekend plans, but it happened and there was nothing I could do about it except accept it and move on.

I called the super, who told me she'd have to call the elevator company to go retrieve them. She said it could be a few days and cost me a couple hundred bucks. Given the number of keys I have, paying for a service call would be the economical thing to do, so I told her to go ahead.

Safely back home, I started to think about what happened and what it meant. First off, I was no longer free to come and go as I pleased. If I decided to venture out, I either needed to make sure the super was there to let me back in or just leave my door unlocked and trust that no one would take that opportunity to pay an unannounced visit. Of course, this isn't the first time I've been stuck at home, but I realized there was a big difference between staying in due to governmentmandated lockdowns vs. not being able to leave due to my own undue care and attention.

I also started to feel a strange sense of insecurity. My door was locked and I live in a safe building with great neighbours, but perhaps it was the knowledge that while others could access my locked premises, I could not, which left me ill-at-ease.

On the bright side, my situation did give my friends and family a good laugh — at least those who haven't had the same thing happen to them.

My Saturday was spent around the house. I did nothing of any real value. It's strange that while I often lament I have more things on my to-do list than I have time to do them, I couldn't make use of this opportunity. I'm not sure if I was subconsciously punishing myself or had concluded that if I could do something so silly as drop my keys down the elevator shaft, now was not a good time to be trusted with anything important.

I checked in with the super on Sunday afternoon and, lo and behold, the elevator tech came and my keys were safe. Not only that, but because he'd been in the neighbourhood when the call came in, he did it for free.

It looks like my luck had started to turn for the better.

Now if only gravity could be that kind if I ever drop my keys again.