The bookstore story

A few weeks ago, when Julie was in Madrid, this happened:

So Julie had been gone for a few weeks by this point and I was bored after work. I decided to go to the local bookstore and read until they closed. It was 7:30pm at this point. I wasn't sure exactly what time the store closed though.

I got to the bookstore and since I was going to be visiting Madrid, Spain in a week, I figured I would read a few books on Madrid. The travel section was tucked away in the back corner of the bookstore. They had 6 books on Madrid, so I grabbed all 6 and sat on the floor and started reading. These books were surprisingly riveting! Did you know many restaurants in Madrid close at 4pm and then reopen at 10pm - interesting. That means most people must eat supper at 10pm or later - interesting.

Anyhow, I'm reading away on the floor in the back corner of the book store. I look at my phone and I see it's now 9pm. The lights and the music in the store were still on, so I figured the store must close at 9:30pm. I kept reading for about 5 more minutes, but then I got bored of Madrid books. So I got up and headed over to the magazine rack. The store was strangely very empty. I grabbed a magazine and started reading. Something inside me felt very wrong at this point. I figured the store had probably closed, but the employees were probably still cleaning up somewhere. Still, I felt so uncomfortable that I decided I should just leave. I walked up to the sliding glass doors at the entrance to leave the store. They didn't open!

The store lights are still on, the music is still playing, but the store is definitely closed and I am definitely locked inside! I walk around the entire store yelling loudly "Hello!?" - nothing. Then, all the sudden the motion sensors pick me up and the alarm goes off. In my head I'm thinking this is good that the alarm went off because they will send someone from security to come get me. So I waited 10 mins but no one came! Maybe I should have waited longer, but I had a feeling like this alarm was just an audible alarm and not hooked up to anything.

I didn't know what to do exactly. Julie was out of town so I couldn't call her. I thought of calling the emergency number 999 (like 911 in Canada), but I figured this didn't really classify as an emergency. I didn't know the number for information (411 in Canada). I figured I would just call 999. When the lady at 999 answered I said "ummm, I don't know if this classifies as an emergency, but I am locked in a bookstore". The lady at emergency transferred me to the police station. I told the officer on the phone my story and he just laughed. He said he would send over an officer.

When the officer came, I looked out the sliding glass doors with my puppy dog eyes. He just shook his head with a grin on his face. I could tell he was thinking "you silly, silly man". The officer went and found the security team responsible for the complex.

A security officer came and called me over to the sliding glass doors. We talked through the glass doors for a bit. He wasn't a whole lot of help because he didn't have any access to the store, but he did call the manager and told him to drive over. The security guard wasn't sure but he thought I could get out through a stairwell in the very back of the store. He said, whatever you do, make sure you don't go through a door that you can't come back from. He didn't want me to get locked in the stairwell and some doors may lock behind you once you go through them. This task stressed me out a bit because the last thing I wanted was to get locked in another place. My brain works terribly when I'm stressed.

I went to the stairwell and went through a few doors (none of which locked behind me - I think), finally I got to a door that obviously led to the street. I pushed on it but it was magnetically locked to the frame. I pushed harder, but the magnetic lock was very strong. I looked to my left and saw a sign that said "In case of fire, break glass to open door". I was thinking to myself, does this count? Can I break that glass? Like I said, my brain wasn't working well. Luckily I had enough sense not to break that glass and keep looking. There was another button that didn't have any glass to break that just said "emergency exit". That sounded better to me, so I pushed that button instead and opened the door to freedom!

I ran around the building to the complex security guard who was excited to see me. He told me the store manager was on his way and he would rather I waited around with him until the manager got there.

The manager (Damian) got there 5 minutes later. He was very nice and apologetic. He brought with him the guy who closed the store that night who had nothing to say to me. I asked Damian when the store closed that night, he said 8:30. Apprently, I had been reading for 30 minutes after the store had closed without even realizing it. I gave Damian my contact details and went home.

The next day Damian called me and apologized again. He said he reviewed the security cameras and found the whole thing rather funny. He offered to send my some Madrid books as compensation. I said I would rather have a gift card instead. So, he mailed me a 40 euro gift card.

The end :)