Let me out! I'm in distress!

Often when the call of nature strikes, I will venture to another, less populated floor to make use of the facilities. I will usually take the stairs, which are secured by security badge readers; if you don't have your security badge, you can't get out of the stairwell.

Imagine my surprise one day when I was in a particularly vexing state of distress, and upon hearing the stairwell door close and lock behind me, realised I had left my badge at my desk. I whispered something like, "this can't be happening" as the blood rushed from my face. I was locked in the stairwell, and the only way out was to walk all the way down 17 flights of stairs, exit the rear of the office building by the loading dock, and walk halfway around the block to get back inside through the main entrance.

And so, I began to pound on the door, hoping that some kind soul would hear me knocking and come to my rescue. After several minutes someone, thankfully, did.

This same story just repeated itself for a particular coworker of mine, who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, except that he didn't knock on the door. He walked all the way "down and around". I was quite impressed... once I stopped laughing.