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01/27/2008: "Stuck on the Inside"

Southeast Alaska gets *a lot* of precipitation. One of my first presents from Aaron was a squeegee for wiping off all of the condensation inside my car. When it gets cold, it also means scraping ice off the outside *and* the inside of all the windows.

Another problem it creates is frozen locks. Most people don't lock their cars when it gets below freezing, but sometimes they'll freeze up whether they're locked or not. At other times I'll be able to get the door pulled open, but then it won't close shut again until the car heats up for 15-20 minutes. Usually I end up driving half way out to the University holding a bungee chord to keep the passenger side door closed.

Yesterday when I went down to the gallery to check out the space with the gallery director I was sitting in the parking lot unable to open either of the doors. Both were frozen closed with me inside. A couple of teenage girls walked by and I pounded on the windshield and gestured for them to come over.

They exchanged worried glances and kept moving forward but I pointed frantically to my door handle making a "lifting up" gesture and gave them my biggest and least threatening smile. Slowly they approached my car as though I might jump out at them with a chloroform soaked rag at any second.

I yelled out that I was frozen in my car and could they pull on the door handle from the outside. The braver of the two came over and gave it a sharp yank and it opened. I said "the locks froze" and she gave me a big smile and said "Oh" in perfect understanding.

I'm curious, does this kind of thing happen in other parts of the world?