Schrodinger's Doorknob

The act of assumption is most thought-provoking. Maybe that's not so for the average person, but I find it almost endlessly stimulating to think about. When confronted with a situation, people will size up all the moving parts of it. They'll try to see how it all fits together, and then they'll draw an eminently reasonable and rational conclusion that is totally wrong precisely because it makes so much sense. To his last day in power, Saddam Hussein acted as though he possessed the weapons of mass destruction that never were found. He apparently did this to appear so strong as to forestall invasion, and in so doing, invited invasion.

I was some time ago struck by the fact that people generally make certain assumptions about closed doors. If they want to go inside (or outside, as the case may be) and they think that it should be unlocked, then they will of course try to open it. If, on the other hand, they think the closed door must be locked, the chances are that they won't even put their hand on the knob. People sometimes come to our apartment building and see the formidable gate out front whose operation appears to depend on the call box mounted on it. When they can't get it to work, they helplessly stand there, or try to reach us on the phone for help. If they tried the gate, they would find it to not even be locked.

The idea of a locked gate protects us more than a working lock ever could. I have never felt such a prohibition. I recall friends and I wandering around in a large complex, trying to find the room where a class we were to attend was being held. I was reproached by one friend for trying the lock of every door we walked past. I appreciate the wrong in trespassing on private property, but evidently, many people see the mere act of trying to open a door as misdeed enough, regardless of whether entry can be gained and private property actually accessed. To me, there's a distinction. I wouldn't have gone inside. I'm just a curious cat.

Writing that gives me pause, though. Am I due to take a fall after one too many whimsical attempts at breaking and entering? Perhaps so. If my free-spirited and tolerant improv friends are inclined to admonish me, the police can hardly be expected to do any less. Perhaps the time has come at long last to obey both the spirit and the letter of the law. I swore I never would, but I guess I'm finally growing up. It's a sad day for me.