Paying for Life’s Lessons

It's been said that it pays to be smart. Well, that may be good advice, but I keep learning it the hard way. It costs to be stupid.

Just the other day I left the house and closed the door behind me. Not even half a second passed before I realized what I'd done. Yep! I left them inside; those keys I needed were still hanging on the hook. Don't you know that one cost me.

I began thinking, "Where's Wiley when I need him?" Instead of my friend's services, I had to make do with the local locksmith's. I tried to handle the situation by myself, but the screwdriver I was using just wasn't small enough to fit inside the keyhole. So, after a couple hours of waiting the locksmith finally arrived. Then, after my pocket was several greenbacks lighter, I finally had access into my house again.

Although the guy couldn't pick the first door's lock, the second door's lock he tried was sprung in a matter of ten seconds. I was dumbfounded. Not only did it cost me for being so absentminded, but I then had to witness how easily I could have resolved the problem with the right skills and equipment. Tilt the cylinder just a tad to put some pressure on the pins, jiggle the pins around in the lock, wait for each one to fall into place just right and bingo! You're back inside!

Yeah, it pays to be smart because that locksmith made out like a bandit as I paid him to ply his trade to break into my home. It also costs to be stupid because this isn't the first time I've locked myself out of my house. It's happened before and the last time I was able to gain entry using an emergency key I had previously hidden. Stupid me, I hadn't gotten around to replacing that emergency key for the next time it would be needed. That next time came a lot quicker than I thought.

If paying for life's lessons came with a punch card, I've had earned a freebie by now.