The other day I was enjoying myself, sitting in my house watching baby squirrels play with their mother and each other when out of the corner of my eye I see a cat come looming into the scene.

So of course, being the nature lover that I am, I quickly jump up from my desk and run out the front door to chase the cat off. Little did I know that the door had closed and locked behind me.

We will all be in this situation at some point in time. Locked out of your apartment, dorm room, house, etc. And of course– lucky me– I didn't have my phone either. The first thoughts that ran through my mind were the worst thoughts I could have come up with, given that I still live with my parents:

Brain: break the window!

Me: What? No!

Brain: Okayyyy..... Set the house on fire?

Me: What is wrong with you?

Brain: *shrugs*

I spent the next twenty minutes running around the perimeter of the house checking to see if any door or window was unlocked. Spoiler: there weren't any. I tried to climb the roof, I checked in potted plants for a spare key, I look over to my neighbor's house and they weren't home. So what was I, a shy, panic-prone, clueless college kid to do? I don't have my brother's number memorized, my father was out of town, and my mother was at work. So, I wander over to a house just down the street.

*knock, knock*

A face appears in the window. Somehow they recognize me, even though I haven't talked to them since I was probably seven. They wave and unlock the door, letting me in. I looked like a scorned puppy as I was explaining my situation and of course, they let me borrow their phone. Now the trick is to get my mother to pick up the phone.

My father and I have this inside joke between us that my mother is actually a submarine: running silent, running deep. The reason being that she keeps her phone in her purse and it's always on silent, and she never bothers to check it. Especially when she's working. But after three calls, miraculously, she noticed her phone and picked up.

"Hello?" she asked, somewhat confused. She has our neighbors' numbers in her phone, but there would be no reason for the Rodriguez family to be calling her.

"Hey, it's me," I chuckled, "I locked myself out of the house, can you come let me in?"

So she returned home.

Twenty minutes spent alone sitting on a garden bench will do a lot to reveal the humor of the situation to you. I spent those twenty minutes laughing at myself, shaking my head. It's humorous to see what you do in a situation. We always say that we would do a certain thing or act a certain way, but you never really know until it happens. Even then every situation is different.

So, what would you do?