It's only fun when it's a game.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been playing a lot of free escape-the-room type games like those by the creator of The Crimson Room and One-Off (which at first glance looks like a rip-off of The White Chamber, but that first glance is the only thing the two games have in common). Today I wished that I had only been playing one of those games.

See, today I was actually trapped in a room. For about an hour. It was our bathroom here at home. As is our custom here in North America, I closed the door behind me when I went to make use of said room this afternoon, even though I was home alone. When I was ready to come out, it turned out that the door was not ready to let me out. Oh, the doorknob turned...but when I stooped down for a closer look, I could see that while the bolt was moving as I turned the knob, it was not moving enough. Ok, well, not to panic, I thought (after some useless calling for help and banging on the door); I've been playing all those escape-the-room games...surely I would be able to find a way to get myself out.

Ok, here are some comparisons between escape-the-room (I'll just say ETR henceforth) games and actually trying to escape from a room:

1. When you are playing an ETR game, you know you are playing a game. You know you are not actually trapped in a room. You do not have to remind yourself that the room you are trapped in is not airtight and that you will not suffocate; you are not actually in the room you're trying to escape and you are not actually breathing that room's air, so such thoughts do not even enter your mind. When you are actually trying to escape from a room, however, the pressure is a little different and you may not think as clearly as you might when playing an ETR game. You may even panic, even if "DON'T PANIC" (and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) comes into your mind a million times while trying to actually ETR.
   
2. When you are playing an ETR game, you can stop at any time and carry on about your business if necessary. If you are having trouble getting out of the room, it's okay, you can give up and try again later; you don't have to get out of the room before, say, you have to go to work. When you are actually trapped in a room and had hoped to leave, say, three-quarters of an hour ago to run some errands before work and then start work, the frustration and pressure increase notably.
3. When you are playing an ETR game, there are various objects strategically placed in the room in which you are trapped; these objects, when used and combined in a certain manner, will allow you to unlock the door or otherwise escape. For example, in the games by the Gotmail crowd, you are bound to have to find and use a cellphone (and usually, though not always, a laptop computer), amongst other things. However, when you are trying to escape from a bathroom in real life, you may find that the number of "strategically placed items" is close to zero. You will certainly not find a cellphone or a laptop computer (unless maybe you went straight into the washroom with your backpack and all as soon as you came in from school or work, which I have done in the past but which was not the case this time...I don't have a laptop anyway, but a cellphone would have been nice). Your youngest sister-in-law will of course have left the house one half-hour before you got trapped in the bathroom and your husband won't be home for maybe another hour, so your ability to communicate with the outside world will be notably limited (come to think of it, maybe that is like most of the ETR games...just not those by the Gotmail crowd). You may get ideas of things you could possible do with items that are in the room, but the objects you have at hand will turn out not to be sufficient to do the job. For example, I eventually got the idea to use some of the items I had in the washroom to dismantle the doorknob/lock and thus free myself. I did actually manage to remove the knob and expose some of the inner workings of the thing using the nail file that was attached to some nail clippers. Unfortunately, further attempts to manipulate the mechanism using this and another (larger) set of nail clippers, a toothbrush, a pair of tweezers and a warped hair barrette were all in vain. I also got the idea to try to remove the pins from the hinges, but I was unable to get any of them to budge with these "tools." Eventually I noticed the matches that we keep in the bathroom (don't ask ;)) and considered burning down the door (or at least burning out the section that held the lock), but I thought that despite the ready availability of water in the bathroom that that could quickly turn very dangerous and decided against it (and yes, I was actually worried about the fire consuming precious oxygen). I think the items that I made the most good use of during my experience were a.) my wristwatch, which told me that my hubby should be home in a while and would hopefully be able to let me out (or at least call my handyman dad who would hopefully be able to let me out...let me tell you, when I heard the phone ring when I was still trapped and unable to answer it, my big fear was that the caller--who didn't leave a message--was my husband calling to say that he wouldn't be home for a while...thankfully that wasn't the case), and b.) the mat in front of the sink, on which I generally laid curled up during times when I wasn't trying to do something more to get out.
4. When you are playing an ETR game, you can get help from hints on various forums or walkthroughs if you get stuck and need someone to tell you what the next step is (or at least give you a decent enough clue that you can figure it out better than you could before). In real life ETR situations, like I said, you generally cannot communicate in any way with the outside world. It's you and your brain and some limited physical resources and that's it.
5. Ok, forgetting about the hints and walkthroughs that I just mentioned...when playing an ETR game, it is all up to you. No in-game character is generally going to come along and help you out (yes, they may send you cryptic text messages or some such thing, but no one comes and opens the door for you or otherwise comes to physically aid your escape). In real life, if you wait long enough, someone will probably come to help you. In my case, I don't live alone, so eventually my youngest sister-in-law or my husband was bound to come home (mother-in-law is away for the week); I just hoped it would be sooner rather than later (let's just say the suffocation thing was unrealistically on my mind; I even wrote a message on a bar of soap with the aforementioned nail file just in case). Hubby did come home in good time and heard me call for help as soon as I heard him come in the side door of the house. After he was also unable to dismantle the doorknob/lock/whatever (and he had a good screwdriver...so even having the right tools doesn't always help), he ended up kicking the door open for me (with me cowering in a more protected corner of the bathroom!). He is feeling very strong and proud of himself for being able to do said manly task; I am just very, very glad he was able to do that for me. After some hugging and comforting I calmed down (despite the fear of suffocating, I was actually pretty good and pretty calm until I heard him come in the house; after that I guess the hopeful nearing of my freedom just made me go mildly hysterical for a bit) and still had time to put gas in the car and go to work, hooray!

Phew. I'm very thankful today that I have a husband and that God brought him home from work in good time for me today. (I'm usually thankful I have a husband anyway, don't worry; I'm just a little extra thankful today.) I'm thankful I got to work on time (it was a crazy, panicky day at work, too, but punctuality is still important to me :)). I'm thankful to be alive and not suffocated. And now I'm thankful that I can go to bed and rest and forget about this day...hopefully tomorrow will be better. No games for me tonight...I don't know if I'll be able to play them again for a while. Good night for now...