WHAT WOULD MACGYVER DO?

Last Thursday evening I found myself locked in a bathroom stall at Washington National Airport.


This is what happened... I waited in line to use the bathroom and when a stall finally opened up, I went in. Once inside, I realized that the handle/knob that one uses to engage the lock on the stall door was not there. Being the handy person that I am, I slid my finger into the hole and pushed the locking mechanism into place. Once I finished with my business, I realized that I had pushed the lock too far to the left and there was no way for me to disengage it.

I was locked in the bathroom stall!

It took me about three seconds to realize that I might have to crawl out under the stall. About two seconds after that thought crossed my mind, I decided there was NO WAY ON EARTH that I would crawl on the nasty public bathroom floor to get out. I'd sooner break the door down (that is what Sydney Bristow on ALIAS would do!). Instead of pulling a Sydney, I asked myself, "What would MacGyver do?"

In what is to date one of my prouder "MacGyver" moments, I used my fingers as a screwdriver and removed one of the screws holding the lock in place. Once the screw was removed, I had access to the lock and was able to disengage it by pushing it to the right.

I walked out of the stall, leaving the removed screw on the toilet paper dispenser, with a smile on my face. Knowing all the while that MacGyver (and Sydney Bristow) would be so proud.