For those of you who don’t know my wonderful husband, Doug, he is brilliant. He is also known as the “absent-minded professor” of the family. Today, he had one of his classic Doug moments (btw, he gave me permission to share this story!).
Since the beginning of December, Doug has been in Scotland for three months’ job training. So far there have definitely been annoyances: for example, no one told him where he was supposed to meet the company rep at the airport when he arrived in Edinburgh so he ended up flagging down a cab and somehow finding the apartment complex. Things have been a gong show (Vancouver scuba diving term for when things go completely awry), but no real classic Doug moments have arisen.
Today that all changed. He decided to head out to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things and get some fresh air (this was after he abandoned his original plan of going for a 15km hike). He grabbed his jacket, pulled the door shut behind him, and then – wait! He’d forgotten his keys!
Think, Doug, think! How are you going to get out of this (and back in the apartment)?
Doug’s roommate was already at the training centre for a 12-hour shift and is the only other person with a set of keys available on Boxing Day. Deciding against hanging out in the foyer until his return, Doug decided to try and find him at the trianing centre. So, off he went on the 40-minute walk to the centre (I told him at least he wasn’t in Wyoming with our -10 celsius temperature and gusting winds!). Once there, he discovered his roommate was already in a secure area that you can’t enter without safety equipment. Of course Doug’s pass card and locker key were back at the apartment. So he tracked someone down, borrowed his card and went in search of miscellaneous safety gear. A few minutes later he emerged from the locker room wearing boots that were three sizes too big, a too-tight hard hat, and some stranger’s coveralls.
He did manage to track down his roommate, get his keys, and get out of the secure area without getting into trouble. After returning his hodge-podge of gear, he went in search of his pass-card buddy so he could leave the building (very tight security!) and walked 40 minutes back toward the flat, stopping en route at the grocery store.
Which, of course, turned out to be closed for Boxing Day.
Classic Doug.
