Not funny, Phantom

There's a dude at the rink that most of us call "the Phantom", due to the fact that he's always there, night and day, and sort of sneaks around and just appears at the exact moment he's needed. He's a good guy, but he's a bit odd. Someone dubbed him the Phantom, musing aloud that he sleeps in the rafters over one of the ice surfaces. When I heard that, I had a very clear picture of him scrambling up the wall at night, to get to his perch. I'd never call him that to his face, because I really do like the guy, but it totally fits.

Well, I think I'll stop referring to him that way, because sometimes payback's a bitch. He must have been hanging out under one of the benches when I was telling a friend about him, and overheard me. See, after my lesson today, I went into an empty locker room to shower, and locked the dead bolt on the door behind me. I was on the side where the figure skaters were using the ice, and they never use the locker rooms, so I had my choice. I picked the farthest one away from the lobby, just in case some of them decided they needed a place to hang their sequins while they strutted around.

I showered, dressed, did the hair and makeup thing, and went to leave. Only.... I couldn't. I turned the deadbolt back, pulled on the handle, and nothing happened. Ok, I thought, maybe the deadbolt didn't go all the way back. I tried it again. And again. I could see it move away from the door jamb but still my efforts to open the door were unrewarded. Feeling like an idiot, I banged on the door a few times, even though I knew there was no one around to hear me. I thought to myself, surely I'm not trapped in here.... But I was. I spent the next ten minutes or so furiously banging on the door and yelling my head off. I even walked over to the vent on the other side of the room and yelled to see if anyone in the locker room for the other rink could hear me. Nothing.

I went back to making as big a ruckus as I could, figuring at some point someone had to come down that hall. And eventually they did. A maintenance guy stopped and tried to unlock it with his key, which did no good because it wasn't the deadbolt that was the problem. He told me to wait, and came back with ManlyDude from the front desk. I know ManlyDude from the league and from hanging around drinking after clinics, and he's always there when I go for my lessons. He called to me through the door and asked if the deadbolt was moving. I told him it was, but that the door still didn't open. "Okay," he said. "Move the deadbolt back and then get out of the way."

I did as instructed and waited. BLAM!!!!!!!! The door came flying open. I didn't want to admit it, but I was pretty freaked out. Still I laughed and thanked him. I guess next time I will bring my cell phone with me, so instead of hollering like a banshee for 10 straight minutes I can just call the front desk and let them know the Phantom locked me in... again.