What to do when doors have no locks?

A few years ago, I wrote the practical difficulties of an apartment with lockless toilets after moving into the 14th arrondissement of Paris. At that time, I emphasized on etiquettes. If you want to keep it simple, it distills down to one rule. Knock before you enter a room. Lock or no lock, this simple solution works all the time. After the post went up, a friend during a party in that little apartment figured out the lock on the toilet. When the friend joyously showed me how the ancient system worked, I learned a valuable lesson. When you share a problem with a broader audience, a solution will emerge even though it may be a make-shift one. After all these years, I have a chance to visit the old post because of a conversation between two brothers. Based on the lockless toilet, I discovered a new way of teaching from their discussion.

The two brothers were visiting Liverpool. I have known the older one personally for many years, but I am meeting the younger one for the first time. When I saw them together, I was taken aback by the similarity in their various manner. They had the similar way of emphasizing words, pointing their fingers in the air to put additional stress on these words, using the same phrases and finally head and eye movements to get their point across. They have embarked on a boy's trip visiting various places in the UK. Liverpool was the latest stop. They have booked a serviced apartment for their stay in the city. The serviced apartment comes with a bathroom with a walk-in shower, bathtub and a toilet, but without a lock on the door.

After surveying the bathroom, the younger one walked into the room and explained the situation to the older one. "The bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom are excellent. But there is one problem. There is no lock on the bathroom door. So what do we do?" I watched the interaction between the brothers curiously. It was like witnessing a double act. The older one raised his eyebrows. "What is the problem?" The younger one patiently explained. "There is no lock. What do we do in the morning?" The older one admonished. "If you walk into the bathroom when I am using it, then it is your problem. You are a grown up. You go figure out what to do!"

Whereas I decided to provide a solution in my earlier post, this older brother decided to let his younger brother figure out the answer by himself. What better is there to learn? If you are curious about what happened in the morning, I have no idea, and I also didn't check.

Photo Courtesy: Eladio Anxo Fernández Manso