When we are called to a lockout all our locksmiths know that they are very likely to find a distressed person who is in quite a state. The lockout may have resulted in the person being late for an appointment, groceries that needed to be in the freezer may well be melting in a locked car or someone very tired or otherwise in immediate need of their bed/toilet/shower will be standing there distressed they couldn’t make their intended immediate entry to their home. Our guys are pros and they know how to make these distressing situations more bearable.
But we are human and there are sometimes when all the training in the world does not prepare you for certain callouts.
Late one night last week we received a call from a guy who had locked himself out of his home. He was polite and well-spoken and reasonably calm. He gave his address described his house and we told him we would be there in a few minutes. He then went on to explain he was naked except for a grey blanket. The problem was he was a sleepwalker who prefer to sleep commando and this evening he had woken up to find himself nude, and walking down his street. Luckily, it was a quiet street in Carlton and after 2.30 in the morning so he had not yet been seen .
He had rung the police to explain his situation and whilst they were sympathetic and provided him with the blanket they explained they didn’t have the authority to do anything more than advise him to call a locksmith and provided him with a five dollar phone card in order to contact us.
I decided this was a call that I had to attend to personally due to the delicate nature of the callout and the potential that this was in fact some kind of scam. I arrived at the home and parked a few houses down so I could walk from my van to the man and make a spot decision as to what really was going on. Sure enough there was a man who appeared to be wearing nothing more than a small grey blanket. It was impossible to prevent a small nervous grin from appearing but apart from that I think I was very professional, explaining to the gentleman that I could help him get inside his home but he would need to provide evidence that he was the homeowner as letting A naked man into a house in the middle of the night had all sorts of implications.
He was very understanding and handed over the card from the police with the officer’s name and details on who had come to his rescue and he confirmed he was indeed the owner of the house and could certainly provide me with evidence of this once he had gained access to the house. I called the police officer’s phone who confirmed yes it did appear to all legit and so I opened the front door.
As it turned out true to his word this was the man’s house and he presented me with both his driver’s licence and a medical report confirming he was a sleepwalker. I didn’t ask why someone suffering from such a condition slept commando but suggested in light of his condition he consider installing either a pin entry access to one of his doors or even his whole house or otherwise let me install a key safe somewhere discreetly outside where he could safely store a key.(A key safe ensures your insurance is not null and void which can happen if you simply stash a key under a mat or a pot plant)
The next week he went with the key safe option and I suspect everything is now well.
