The Towel Dilemma: A Night in the Life of a Building Manager

The Towel Dilemma

A Night in the Life of a Building Manager

It was 2 AM. The world was quiet, the building was asleep, and I - your trusty on-call building manager—was almost asleep too. Almost.

Then, the intercom buzzed.

Now, a call at this hour is never good news. Either something was flooding, something was on fire, or someone was about to tell me, “Don’t worry, it’s not an emergency, but…” (which, spoiler alert, always means it is an emergency).

I took a deep breath, shuffled to the intercom, and answered.
"Emergency line, Lily speaking. How can I assist you?"

A small, nervous voice came through.
"Hi, Lily… it’s me she say her name… I rather keep it to myself…

I immediately recognized her. I know about 90% of my tenants by name, and this wasn’t someone who typically called at odd hours.

"Hey there," I said, now fully awake. "What’s going on?"

A pause. Then, in a whisper:
"I, um… I locked myself out of my apartment. And… I’m only wearing a towel."

I blinked. Well. That was a first.

"Alright," I said, keeping my voice calm. "Where are you right now?"

"In the lobby."

I almost groaned. The lobby? The most public place she could possibly be?

"Okay," I said, thinking fast. "I want you to go up to your unit door. It’ll be quieter there, and there’s probably less foot traffic."

"Right. Good idea." I could hear the shuffle as she hurried toward the elevator. Of course, she forget to disconnect call from the intercom.

"Just stay put when you get there, and I’ll be up in two minutes," I yelled hopping she can still hear me

Sure enough, when I arrived, there she was—pressed against her door like she was trying to blend into the paint, gripping her towel like a lifeline.

"I, um… don’t want to talk about how this happened," she mumbled.

"Fair enough," I said, unlocking the door.

The second it swung open, she bolted inside with a frantic “Thank you thank you thank you!” before I even had time to say “Have a good night.”

I smiled, shook my head, and made my way back downstairs.

Some people dream of adventure at night. I, on the other hand, just hope for a night where no one gets locked out… without their clothes.