A few years ago, we were cat-sitting for some friends. They gave me keys to the exterior door leading into their garage. Once inside, I was able to access the unlocked door that went from the garage into the house. Easy peasy.
Well, one day, I took my kids with me to feed the cats, and one of them decided to lock the spring-loaded latch as we exited the house into the garage. As I was about to leave through the garage door, I started to hear the click-click-click of the gas stove ignitor.
Since there was no one else in the house, that was definitely weird.
“Holy crap!” I thought. “The cats must be turning on the gas stove! They’re going to blow up the house! I got to get in there to turn it off . . . but I don’t have keys to unlock this door!”
Thankfully, I had my wallet with me. I pulled out a rewards card and shimmied open the spring-latched door — just like MacGyver would.
When the door popped open, the cats were staring at me. I rushed to the stove. The gas wasn’t turned on. I called my friend to ask about the clicking noise.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “The ignitor does that sometimes. The gas isn’t on, but the ignitor will make that clicking noise. Don’t sweat it.”
Non-crisis averted.
If you’re ever in an actual emergency where you need to open a door you don’t have keys for, it’s good to have the know-how illustrated above in your back pocket. While this method won’t work on every type of lock (like deadbolts or high-security locks), it can work on spring-latch locks, which are typically found on interior doors.
By doing nothing more than sliding a flexible plastic card (preferably one you don’t mind potentially damaging) between the door frame and the locking mechanism, you can often gain entry in under a minute without harming the door or the lock.
The next time you think a cat has figured out how to turn the knobs on a stove, you’ll be prepared.
Illustration by Ted Slampyak
