we arrived early in san diego yesterday, about eight in the morning. had to drive, instead of taking a train this time, since they are not running trains next weekend for bridge repairs somewhere on the line. oh well. don't really need a car in town, but gives more flexibility depending what we want to do or when we want to leave.
we've stayed at this hotel before, and the lady at the front desk remembered us. told her we're here for our anniversary, so she did her best to get us a room as soon as possible. found one that was vacant, but not cleaned yet, and got housekeeping on the phone to ask them to get to it first.
we were in a room by nine, and sleeping by ten. three hours later, we woke up and headed over to the old spreckels theatre. i'd gotten tickets to see "the producers" on the stage, and needed to get them from will call. doors weren't open yet, so we went to horton plaza for some "gourmet" fine dining at taco bell. it was quick, and we were hungry, so don't judge.
back down to the theatre, still about twenty minutes until doors opened. decided i'd go take a wazz, so maybe i wouldn't have to stand in the long line at intermission. guy at the info booth said there were bathrooms on the fourth floor.
now, if you're not familiar with the spreckels theatre, it's an old building. built in nineteen twelve for a million dollars. theatre on the first floor and offices on the upper floors. we took the old elevator up, and get out, like stepping back in time. frosted glass windowed, empty offices up and down the white tiled hallways, the kind you'd expect to find a private eye in old black and white movies, with gold lettering painted on the glass.
i guess he sent us up to the fourth floor, because there is randomly a bail bondsman office there. we wandered around the hallways, which seemed to follow the perimeter of the building, with a central corridor. we split up, looking for the bathrooms. i found the mens room on one side, he found the women's on the opposite side of the building. it's fairly echoey with all the hexagonal tiling, and marble stairwells, so he yelled that he'd found it.
took care of business, and we took the stairwell down four flights. theatre was open by then, so in we went.
hour and a half later, it was intermission. out to stretch our legs. there's a line for candy, and a line for the bathroom, as expected. decided i'd be more comfortable if i got rid of that pepsi from lunch, but didn't want to wait in that horrifically long line.
noticed the marble stairs next to the elevators. wondered if there might be bathrooms up a level. no one stopped us, so up we went. figured they would be located at the same ends of the halls as the other floor. walking around, we realized there was no one on this floor. just locked, empty or closed business offices.
better half waits in the hallway, and i open the old frosted glass door to the women's room. there's an open window, with a view of a rooftop, which must be the top of the theatre and it must be some empty atrium-like space to the sky that the hallways go around.
the facilities in the restroom aren't the original porcelain, but the stalls themselves probably are. i choose the farthest of the three, and pull the door shut. it doesn't want to close well, kind of is jammed, not quite fitting into the frame. i don't know why i pulled it fully shut, grabbing it from the top of door, in order to lock it by turning the little brass knob--there was no one else on this floor--but i did. dropped trou, did what you do, and stood back up.
go to open the stall door, and it doesn't budge. there's just the tiny brass handle to pull on, so, for a better grip, i pull from the top of the door, same place that i had forced it shut. it doesn't move. i think maybe its still locked; i can't remember if i turned the latch, or if i did, there's no mark indicating opened or closed.
i lean over to try pulling it from the bottom, but then think, if its stuck that hard, and i manage to pull it open while bent down, i'll bash myself in the head with this old, solid wood door. that would be a pretty dumbass move, wouldn't it? so instead i see if i can reach from both top and bottom of the door and give it a few pulls. nope, this door is wedged shut, and i'm not going anywhere, since it opens inward and i don't have leverage.
thinking we're the only people on this floor, i decided i could just call to my better half, to come in and save me, and we could be out before anyone might notice, should anyone randomly come up the stairs, and catch us coming out of the bathroom together.
i called him. i called him again. hmmm. it echoes off the tile. nothing. i'm not going to all out scream, i'll save that for real danger. looking down, notice the floor is relatively clean, since it isn't overly used. mentally calculating if there's enough space under the door vs enough space between the door and the toilet, and decide i will try to get down and shimmy under the door.
so that's what i did, feet first, sliding on my ass, pulling myself under the door. don't think i've ever had to do that before, not even as a kid. check that off my bucket list, i guess.
standing up, looking at the door, i notice the old brass inset shows "occupied." its locked, so no use pushing the door. thought about going back under to unlock it for about half a second, then said, nah, gotta get back downstairs. dusted off my pants, washed my hands, and opened the door to the hallway, and where is my better half?
he'd made use of the wait to call his mom, and has walked down to the other end of the hallway, chatting away about the show. never heard me call him. told him my story as we went down the stairs, and laughed about it all the way to our seats. at least i didn't have to wait in the line, which still had anxious women waiting to "freshen up," snaking out the door.
btw, it was a very good show. excellent acting and singing, but not enough air conditioning, so the main actors were sweating right through their suits.
