Dear LPG, 

I recently read what UF had to say about being locked out of a room in your house in a way that having an extra key cannot fix, even if you have one and I take that on board.  I think that people should be especially careful in those spare rooms where everything sort of gets packed up and stacked in boxes that are not always stable, and I can say this because I once managed to put a box too near the door which toppled over.  I have to say that it fell in a way that just about allowed me to get in, but had it been a couple of inches nearer to the door I would have had his problem.  

I seem to not have a lot of luck when it comes to getting locked out though because I once managed to get locked out of that very same room in my house recently on another occasion, and a spare key made all the difference that time. 

Forty-odd years ago when I moved into my house, there were no locks on any of the doors, but my children eventually moved out and I decided to let one of the rooms to a student for the company and a few financial reasons to boot.  It worked very well but I got a locksmith in to put locks on all the doors upstairs.  My student needed his privacy and I wanted to keep mine.  

I got those hotel door handles with the keyhole in the actual handle and one seems to lock itself from time to time.  It is as if the lock works its way round and every now and then you turn the handle, and the door does not open.  Now that I am alone again I usually leave the key in the door, but it has not been there for a while now and I don’t remember what I did with it.  

All those years ago I was offered a bit of advice which I thankfully took notice of.  The locksmith suggested I put all the spare keys in a jar and find a place in a room that doesn’t have a lock on it and to put it somewhere safe. Obviously I am not going to tell you where I keep mine, but there is usually a space in the bottom of a kitchen drawer or the back of a bathroom cupboard which fits the bill.

All those years ago I did as he suggested and forgot until nineteen years later when, the other day, I managed to lock myself outside that spare room having heard the lock click as I pulled the door to. 

There was something really reassuring about remembering where that jam jar was and, even though I had to try four keys before I got to the right one, I thank the locksmith for his advice, wherever he is now.   I keep a spare front-door key in there too and while, it will not help if I forget mine in the house, it means that I have a spare and know where to find one if ever I need that.

So, if you have doors that lock in your house and you don’t have one yet, I suggest you buy a jar of jam when you next go shopping…

SC, Crofton Park