Nicholas Zakas' Personal Blog A deviation from my usual tech writing

The key

I arrived early to my appointment that morning and walked the hallway down to the office suite. I passed right by the bathroom that I was anxious to use after my half-hour drive. Each office suite gets a key to the bathroom, and retrieving it was my sole intention when I walked into my destination. Yet it wasn't there. I looked around and couldn't find it anyways. Damn.

When Chris finally arrived, I asked him where the bathroom key was. He said that it fell off the keychain and he hasn't had one for a while.

"But," he said holding up his keychain, "do you have a key that looks like this?"

The key he pointed to looked like an ordinary house key. I looked at the key, then to his face, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Yes..." I responded.

"That's all you need," he said, "it should work for the bathroom."

I pulled out my keychain and walked back down the hallway to the bathroom. I took my house key and inserted it into the door's lock. The doorknob felt looser and, as I turned it, the door easily opened. I stood there in amazement for a moment. I'd been going there for two years, and how many times had I waited for someone to return with the bathroom key? Each and every time, I had the key that would open the door with me and didn't even realize it. The experience made me stop and think, I wonder what other keys I'm carrying...