My Top 5 Hostel Bloopers

Not much explanation needed here. Living in a hostel means living with strangers, & living with strangers means living with bloopers!

Here's the list. Enjoy...


1) The Bedroom Break-in


One day, I hung/wrapped a plastic Hawaiian party necklace around part of the deadbolt on the inside of our door. Some time later, I went out, locking the deadbolt behind me.

When I came home, I found that I couldn't open our door. The plastic necklace had become tangled in the bolt, preventing it from sliding open. Oops. Luckily, the door opens out into the hall, meaning that the hinges are accessible from outside the room.

With the help of a neighbor, I used a butcher knife and a hammer to pop the door off its hinges & enter the room.

I removed the necklace & used it to tie a bandana around my makeshift electric tiki torch.

The best part of the story (or the worst) is this:

Though this incident occurred in the middle of the afternoon, despite being on the second floor, directly above the main office, none of the staff heard anything (apparently) or came to investigate. So much for security!
2) The Soap Incident


One day, I left my soap in the little soap dish in the shower. 

I can speak from experience (unfortunately) when I report that this is a bad idea when you're sharing a bathroom with random backpackers in a hostel.


The problem? When I showered the next day, I found some fairly conclusive proof that someone else was using my soap...

Can I just say, Ewwww, ewwww, And EWWWWW!


3) The Accidental Nudist


After my 3rd shower one day (I'm hot a lot here!), I came into our room & closed the door. Then, Jen asked me to come over & look at something on her computer... something that was so funny or engrossing (like our puppy dreaming) that it just couldn't wait until I put on some pants. So I hurried over to see what it was.


Some time later, as I was standing beside Jen, I heard a noise outside & realized something...


You see... a while ago, annoyed by our doorknob (which automatically locks when it clicks shut), I had rigged a bungee cord with a stopper on it, so that, if we choose to, we can "close" the door without it clicking & locking. A great idea, until you're half-naked in your room & you forget about the stopper & a gust of wind opens the door that you thought was firmly closed.




A re-enactment of the Nudist Blooper.

Oops.

The bungee + stopper contraption is still on the door, but now we try to remember to push the stopper down & make sure the door clicks when we don't want it to open.

Luckily, I don't think anyone saw me naked, but, because you can see into our room from the main stairwell, I'll never be 100% sure.


4) The Bathroom Break-in


One day I went to use our bathroom (which we sometimes share with other guests).

I noticed that the door was locked. Some time later, I tried again & was dismayed to find that it was locked again.


I knocked, & knocked again. No answer.


Great: someone had locked the door and closed it (or died inside of Montezuma's revenge). In either case, our section had no bathroom & would have to use another one, possibly on another floor, until the staff learned of and fixed the situation.


The next day I awoke to the sound of singing birds, celebrating the dawn's arrival. Yes, it was another joyous day in Cancun, except that I soon discovered.. our bathroom door was still locked. This could take days, I thought. Welcome to Mexico.


Later that day (or the next), I had a brainstorm...


Hey, I'm pretty handy, I thought. In fact, I like to think of myself as a junior McGuyver. Why was I waiting for the staff to do something? Surely I could open this stupid door myself. Didn't most bathroom doors have a safety hole on the outside? I recalled opening my grandmother's bathroom door after my cousin locked it when I was barely out of swaddling clothes. (Okay, maybe I never wore swaddling clothes, but the rest of that story is really true!)


Brimming with excitement, I raced down the hall & peeked at the doorknob. Sure enough, there was a slot! I just needed something to stick in it.


I returned to the bedroom, rummaged through my tools, and found a screwdriver and a key for my Kryptonite bicycle lock. Moments later, I was outside the bathroom door, anxiously awaiting the moment of truth.

I slipped the key into the slot, applied force to the knob, and... Presto! It turned! As I opened the door, I was filled with a feeling of immense pride, which quickly turned to something... else...


You see, I had encountered something unexpected. When I pushed on the door, I felt some resistance, which, I quickly determined, was coming from a young man inside, who was using the toilet!

Oops.


What he thought when he heard the sound of a key & a doorknob turning, & why he didn't say something, I will never know. I tried to utter an explanation / apology, but I wasn't sure he even spoke English & was too embarrassed to discuss the situation in detail.


Oh well.. At least it wasn't a girl on the toilet!


I wasn't punched, & I wasn't arrested & branded a pervert & turfed out of the country.


That post'll have wait for another time :P