Lock-in

I had a meeting at my store tonight. Afterward, my DM, myself and my asst. hung around to finish up the deposit and take it to the bank. As we were at the gate ready to leave the store, my asst. turned the key to start the motorized gate so it would open up.



She turned the key, the motor sounded and the gate didn't move.



It became apparant rather quickly that one of my other keyholders that left the store prior locked the latch from the outside of the store out of habit.



We were stuck!



The motor keeps going, but the gate wasn't moving. It had pulled up just enough that the latch wouldn't come unlocked with the manual lock. Two of us jumped onto the cage like wild animals and tried to use our weight to pull down the gate enough for the other to unlock it. No such luck. We tried a few times, but it wasn't budging.



I ran back and tripped the fuse so the motor would at least turn off and not burn out. I got an old shelf to help give us a platform to stand on to try to help weigh down the gate, but the shelf just broke when we jumped on it. I was beginning to fear I was stuck in my store all night!



Finally we went around the back and came around the front. By the time my asst. and I made it around, my DM had the thing unlocked! I don't know how he did it, but he did.



Whew!



Well, that made a memory! Three grown adults hanging of the front grill like rats in a cage! I'm glad no one had a camera! I felt like I was at the zoo!