Castle Keep

I'll just come out and say that the compulsion to write about my new apartment, which is fast becoming just my apartment, has gotten the best of me again. It is not for the last time, either. Not since my college housing have I lived in a multi-unit home with any kind of effective building security. Previous apartment buildings have appeared to be locked, but in fact were wide open. There being no actual security, I was under no obligation to support it. Things are different now that I'm in this place.

The front door locks automatically, as does every door which offers ingress. I'm told that to lose the key which opens it would expose me to considerable financial penalties, the purpose of which would be to replace the lock entirely. That ought to impress upon the reader the seriousness of the thing. I suppose that it's a refreshing change from places where I have lived in the past, if the addition of more oppressive security measures can be considered refreshing. There's a reason I favor virtually security-less Greyhound over eminently safe airlines: I feel more free.

Like I said, in the past there was no security for me to back up. There is now, though. It's as much my responsibility as it is anyone's to keep non-residents from circumventing our security to get inside. Some people are quite zealous about it, and stories have been relayed to me by visiting friends of most hostile encounters with them. I'm not so good at confrontation, so my way of keeping out people I don't know is to avoid any entrance with people waiting at it. If someone is there at the lobby door, I'll make like I don't see them and detour through a garage entrance.

I have no illusions about all this actually working entirely. The odds are highly against any one interloper having malicious intent, and I have entered enough apartment buildings through the kindness of strangers to know that, but it shows how easily the bad guys can get in. Have you ever been a delivery driver? All it takes to penetrate every layer of protection is a container of hot food. You won't face any more scrutiny than playful threats to take the food.