Locked OUT: Locked IN

Can't this family ever do anything in the conventional manner? Today I arrived home from work and realized I didn't have a house key. Owl and I had left together, but I came home by taxi. Well, I thought Hubby is home and will let me in. I rang the bell several times, but got no reply. I then called on my mobile and he answered. "Let me in, I'm locked out." I said.

His reply: "I can't. I've got no key. I'm locked in!"

It seems that Large Hulking Son had taken the key and locked the door on his way out, leaving his poor dad locked in all afternoon. The super didn't have a key either, so I had to call Owlie to the rescue. She left work immediately and one hour later, arrived to rescue her stranded parents.

I spent my time in the hallway illegally eating the lunch I had bought from the downstairs store, an apple, a cheese croissant and a diet soda. It's Ramadan and it's illegal to eat or drink in public. Fortunately, the food police didn't find me huddled in the corner of my hallway, sitting on my welcome mat and reading "The Message" by Lance Richardson.

Okay, I have to be truthful, although it is illegal to eat during daylight hours in public during Ramadan, there is no such thing as the food police (although I often fantacize about how they would look, how they would arrest you and what the process would be like)

I also often fantacize about the Sharjah laundry police. It is illegal to hang laundry from your balcony and I wonder if anyone has ever been arrested or fined for doing so, as at least one fourth the balconies of the city have visible laundry on them at any one time.