Breaking in
Mar. 14th, 2008 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigo_rose99Security is an odd thing. "Secure" in this particular work facility means every door has a badge reader. I understand the outside doors, it is the one on my classroom that has mildly bewildered me all week. All of my students can freely badge in, but I have to spend half a day with forms and arguing to get access. And I'm the instructor!
I have been giving one of my students a lift every morning, since we are staying at the same hotel. This morning we rolled up ( me with my briefcase, her with going-home luggage) to the classroom and her badge didn't work. I tried my badge. Nope. So, leaving my briefcase with her, I walked the front security desk and asked if they could let us in. No, but perhaps the head of security could. I knocked on his office door (noticing it was propped open with a piece of wood). "Could you let us into [my class]room? Our badges don't work."
As he walked with me, he said I was the third complaint this morning, that other badges on other doors were not working. Evidently another office was doing a system upgrade and as a result...
At the classroom, he tried his badge. Nope. Several more times. No opening this door with his, either. "So is there a key?" I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I said it -- there was no lock or keyhole on the door. "If my badge won't open it," he said, "no badge in the building will. There is no key. Perhaps when the facilities guys arrive at about 9am."
"But our class starts at 8:30!" It was 7:30am. An hour and a half.
"Well, you could go to the canteen and have some coffee as you wait." He walked away as we stared at each other in horror.
I tried my badge again. Locked. Again. Locked. "Look, the light goes briefly green before it goes red." My student pointed above my head. I tried the badge again and saw that she was right. So perhaps if I tried to open the door at just the right second... Three more tries and the door opened in my hand.
But what if we locked ourselves in? You have to push a switch on the wall to get out on a regular day. We promptly set about blocking the sensor. One massive pack of sticky blue-tac later, we had defeated all efforts of the lock to secure us in or out of the room.
We looked at each other and decided that we felt like bank robbers breaking into the vault. *laugh*
I have been giving one of my students a lift every morning, since we are staying at the same hotel. This morning we rolled up ( me with my briefcase, her with going-home luggage) to the classroom and her badge didn't work. I tried my badge. Nope. So, leaving my briefcase with her, I walked the front security desk and asked if they could let us in. No, but perhaps the head of security could. I knocked on his office door (noticing it was propped open with a piece of wood). "Could you let us into [my class]room? Our badges don't work."
As he walked with me, he said I was the third complaint this morning, that other badges on other doors were not working. Evidently another office was doing a system upgrade and as a result...
At the classroom, he tried his badge. Nope. Several more times. No opening this door with his, either. "So is there a key?" I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I said it -- there was no lock or keyhole on the door. "If my badge won't open it," he said, "no badge in the building will. There is no key. Perhaps when the facilities guys arrive at about 9am."
"But our class starts at 8:30!" It was 7:30am. An hour and a half.
"Well, you could go to the canteen and have some coffee as you wait." He walked away as we stared at each other in horror.
I tried my badge again. Locked. Again. Locked. "Look, the light goes briefly green before it goes red." My student pointed above my head. I tried the badge again and saw that she was right. So perhaps if I tried to open the door at just the right second... Three more tries and the door opened in my hand.
But what if we locked ourselves in? You have to push a switch on the wall to get out on a regular day. We promptly set about blocking the sensor. One massive pack of sticky blue-tac later, we had defeated all efforts of the lock to secure us in or out of the room.
We looked at each other and decided that we felt like bank robbers breaking into the vault. *laugh*
