I was locked out by a smart lock and survived without a smartphone or wallet until morning in Tokyo.

What if you don't have a wallet or a smartphone?

Smart home devices are on the rise. We are also actively introducing it in our house where we live as a couple, and now we can operate the air conditioner and TV with Alexa.

And since I moved the other day, I installed a smart lock at this timing. It was very convenient. No construction required, just cover the thumb turn (knob on the inside of the key). You can unlock and lock with your smartphone, and above all, it's very comfortable that you don't have to carry a key with you.

You've been locked out by that smart lock.

It was around 21:00 on a Friday. The two of us went to the outside garbage storage area at the same time to take out the oversized garbage. When I was discussing where to put the garbage, I heard an unpleasant sound from the entrance.

Oh, I thought. Come to think of it, the smart lock app was set to automatically lock the door 45 seconds after it was unlocked. Amazingly, the smart lock turned the thumb turn 45 seconds after we opened the door, just as it was supposed to. And they both left home without their smartphones, wallets, or keys.

You did it! While thinking that, I was surprisingly calm. I thought it would work out. Because smart locks are supposed to be smart, right? Just like you can reset the password for your Twitter account, I figured there would be some "helper" way to unlock it. Well, I can't.

First, there's no way to find out how to help. Because I don't have a smartphone. Even when I made the initial settings, I didn't write how to deal with being locked out... In the first place, there shouldn't be any way for someone who doesn't have a key or a smartphone to reset the smart lock and open it. Anyone can put in something like that...

I'm calm (laughs), but after thinking about it so far, I finally realized. This is seriously dangerous. A couple without a wallet or a smartphone were thrown out at night in Tokyo.

I would like to contact the management company first.

At this time, I had no idea that we would not be able to return home until 14:00 the next day.

I heard that the management company of my apartment has a 24-hour support desk, and if something happens, you can call them and they will respond. But I can't even remember the name of the management company, let alone the phone number. ...Well, you can't make a phone call because you don't have money or a smartphone in the first place, can you?

Therefore, I decided to go to the real estate agent when I signed the contract. It's in front of the nearest station, so I'm going to go and call the management company.

During the 5-minute walk to the real estate agent, just after the husband and wife had quarreled, it began to rain lightly. I'm wearing plain clothes, but only one T-shirt. His wife is half-dressed. It's cold. It's sad.

When I arrived at the real estate agent, unfortunately it was closed and no one was there... That's right, it's past 21:00. What should I do next... Ah, there was a police box over there.

Detriments of auto-locking on your own

At the police box, you can also borrow a phone. I reluctantly knocked on the entrance door. When I explained the situation to the policeman, he listened to me very sincerely and kindly.

But the police don't know the information of the management company. So the policeman asked another apartment resident for the phone number of the management company. Ah, did you have that hand? I was in a hurry and didn't realize the simple "ask a resident". But it would be safer for the police to visit us than for us to ring the chime. It's late at night.

The neighbors were also very kind and gave me their phone number. Thank you. I was able to call the management company from the police box.

...but it still doesn't work. The 24-hour window is an external company, and the key is not managed. The head office of the management company does not answer the phone outside of business hours. In the first place, it is not an auto-locking apartment, so it is not assumed that you will be locked out without a key. Of course. I'm all bad. Because the house is automatically locked out by yourself. Anger wells up in my foolish self.

I thought about asking a locksmith to open it forcibly, but according to the policeman's experience, it would cost about 50,000 yen on average. It's a bit expensive, and it seems to be a type of key that is difficult to pick, so even a locksmith may not be able to open it. I had no choice but to wait somewhere until the morning when the real estate agent opened. If it's like this, it's survival.

Goodbye GAFAM state

"Do you have any friends nearby? Would you like to stay at a friend's house or borrow money?" Oh, I'm here, my friend. on the same route. However, I don't have a smartphone, so I can't do anything with LINE or phone calls. I don't even know where my house is, and even if I do, I'm frustrated that I don't know if he's home...!

When I was worried, I suddenly remembered that I have a friend who runs a bar nearby. I don't know the location or phone number, but I can search for bars by name! And the bars are definitely open on Friday nights!

The officer suggested we take a taxi to a bar, borrow money, and stay at a hotel. You pay for the taxi when you get off, so you can pay by borrowing money at the bar. I've never thought of that, normal.

Let's get the police to investigate. The research was shocking. Surprisingly, the policeman took out a paper map. He points to the nearest station and asks, "Is this the bar?" I've only been there once, so I can't tell from the map. I know the name of the shop, so why not look it up on Google Maps? I thought, but it seems that it is not possible to use the Internet freely.

The smartphone that the policeman has also seemed to be a terminal for business use. Personal smartphones are probably kept in lockers for security reasons. The policeman gave up on paper maps and took out his PC and started searching. It took quite a while because there was only information for each building and you could only search by the name of the registered owner, but they managed to find the address and phone number.

Maybe the policeman was thinking, "I wish I could use Google." "Sayonara GAFAM" means this in a sense, and I realized once again how amazing Google is.

After that, I borrowed the police box phone and told the bar about the situation. Put yourself in the shoes of the bar owner here. All of a sudden I get a call from the police. Then a friend pops up on the phone and starts saying nonsensical things like, "I'm locked out of my smart lock... give me money." Horror, isn't it?

I managed to understand, and headed by taxi. I am very grateful to the police for their kind response.

Goodbye GAFAM: Try to quit Google → Internet collapse

Cut off Net Five Elders GAFAM, 3rd week is Google. Week 3: Google "Don't be evil" disappeared Google "Don't be ...

https://www.gizmodo.jp/2019/02/i-cut-google-out-of-my-life-it-screwed-up-everything.html

Can you go to an unknown city without a smartphone?

Thankfully, my friend at the bar was very kind and lent me some money. It makes me feel better when they laugh and say, "You're stupid!" I was able to borrow a phone and get a hotel room for one night.

The next morning, I tried to call the real estate agent or the management company from the hotel, but recently the phone in the hotel room can't connect to the outside line... There was a trendy drama I watched when I was a kid, and there was a scene where I was on the phone from a business hotel...

I thought it would be faster to go directly to the real estate agent. I explained the situation from last night and asked him to call the management company while being sympathetic. Then the management company said, "Please come to our company in 〇〇 town to get a duplicate key." Ho ho, after knowing the circumstances, you summoned us, who couldn't sleep at all due to anxiety, to such a distant town that we had never heard of, right? Yes, sorry, I'm happy to go. I decided to go to the management company with the balance of the borrowed money.

I had the real estate agent print out a map of the area around the management company and the address, and left the store. However, I realize that I don't know how to change trains. Taxi fare is probably not enough.

I thought I should just look at the route map on the ticket vending machine, so I went straight to the station, but the route map of the private railway station doesn't show the route map of another company. I asked the station staff how to get there, but the station staff said, "Sorry, I don't know." Or rather, it seems that I was quite busy, and I could not respond properly.

Paper maps and route maps

No smartphones, no money, no one can tell. That's when I turned to the bookstore. It was right in front of me. Even now that smartphones have become popular, we still sell books on maps and route maps. There was a little dust on the bookshelf in the corner.

While struggling with a paper map for the first time in a long time, I check the destination by looking at the "index". I was able to check the connection in the route map book. Ah, should I go this route or go all the way to Shibuya?

Sorry for browsing, the balance was less than 2,000 yen at this time... This is the book I used. Before smartphones and mobile phones became popular, it was like this...

778 yen

771 Yen

Even after arriving at my destination, I had a lot of trouble without my smartphone, but it's been a long time, so I'll omit it. But I managed to get to the management company and was able to borrow a spare key. I was able to enter the house at 14:00 the day after I was locked out. For about 17 hours, I experienced Tokyo without money or smartphones.

What should I do if my smart lock locks me out at night?

Things I thought about being locked out.

・Let's rely on people first. If you can borrow it, let's borrow a smartphone. If that doesn't work, let's borrow a phone at the police box.

・Let's remember the phone number of the management company and friends in the neighborhood. If you can't memorize it, write it on a piece of paper and put it in the mailbox.

・I want electronic money embedded in my body, seriously.

・I wish I had a fingerprint or biometric smart lock.

If I could borrow a smartphone, would I have been able to log in to the Alexa management screen and operate the smart lock remotely? I thought both. But I can't. Because my password awareness was too high (). I use the password management app 1Password, and without it I can't log in anywhere... Every service's password is a unique random string. In addition to your master password, you need your smartphone to log in to 1Password. Hey, do you see a future where you'll be locked out of 1Password one day?

This incident was so traumatic that our smart lock was removed after just one week of installation. But that doesn't mean smart locks are bad. My smartness couldn't keep up. Humans who were immersed in smart devices were too helpless in a world without them. Just remembering this story makes me dizzy, but I hope it helps.