Zieh Fix: Video Review for The Ultimate Tool to Break a Lock
October 6, 2022
Weekends can be a source of colorful experiences in our line of work. People tend to think that we service mainly drunk people that dropped their keys in the water or something like that. However, this is far from truth. Anyone can be locked out for all kind of reasons and you do not have to be drunk for that to happen. Not necessarily.
To be honest, I cannot even remember the last time I met a drunk person on the job. Well, anyway, this is a story about a young friendly client that called late on Friday night, or early on Saturday morning. Depends how you look at it I guess. A call out that sent me to Amsterdam colorful Bijlmer for a lockout service. Was an experience..
The Bijlmer or Bijlmermeer is a neighborhood in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost. The neighborhood was built in the 60’s to answer Amsterdam’s growing population and housing needs. The neighborhood house today more than 50,000 residents and was built as one big housing project. It is unique in its Modernist design of big tall buildings, looking almost identical, with green patches stretched between them.
Built in the 60’s to house middle class residents of Amsterdam, the area changed demographically in the 70’s. Following Suriname’s independence in 1975, the former Dutch colony in South America exported many of its people to The Netherlands. The Amsterdam council housed lots of them in social housing in the Bijlmer. Having low-income migrants all living in the same area resulted in growing social issues. The neighborhood suffered a very high crime rate that decreased over the past
Drifted a little from my story to give you a frame and context. Therefore, I was driving late at night on Friday to the Bijlmer. The person on the phone was very nice and gave me clear instructions for his address. On arrival, I met a small, skinny and very nice man from the Balkans. Very friendly, he took me to the second floor to face the door. With my years of experience, I sensed that this would not be easy.
Then I saw the door. Not, not going to be easy. That was a proper Bijlmer door. Thick, sealed with steel frame and lock protected in metal casing. That door was there to resist and drive away people like me, sending them running back crying for their mother. Anyone wish to break in, good luck. The only way to break in would be a couple of hours of lock lock drilling and door wrestling. “Is there a back door?” I asked. “No, but there’s a balcony.” The person was happy to show me around.
The apartment was on the second level off the ground. About 4 meters above my head. 4 meters maybe sounds not much, but it’s much enough to prevent people climbing up for a visit through your balcony. The wall was smooth with not much to hang too. A couple of bricks were sticking slightly out of the wall, but thats it. I thought the balcony is a much better option than the door from hell. Once I’m up there and my tools will somehow follow, I could easily open the balcony’s door. So I was getting ready to climb up and the client was ready to help. First, we scattered the area for anything we could find to help me with my climb up there. We came back with a supermarket trolly, a piece of long timber and a plastic chair we found in the playground. I got straight into it.
Piled everything together and climbed up. Very quickly, I realized, not possible. The eclectic structure was fragile and hardly carried my weight. I had nothing to hang on and it was very dangerous. The client then suggested for me to climb on his shoulders. “How much you weigh?” I asked. “45 kilos.” He seems very proud. “Im 45KG. I will break your spine to half.” I said. Not an option.
As we were debating about our options, a small crowd was forming around us. Everyone seemed to enjoy my little show. Mind you it was already 3AM Saturday morning. A very colorful crowd if you can imagine. The Bijlmer at 3AM was as busy as Amsterdam city center on midday I discovered. People walking their dogs, socializing, playing music in car parks, visiting their neighbors and so on. Out of the crowd walked a person straight to me. An African looked like 2 meters tall, face tattoos, neck tattoos and dreadlocks.
“What’s the problem bro?” He was also very high. Like high as from Hash smoking high. “Im trying to get into the balcony. This guy here is locked out.” I replied. “Yeah, so what’s the problem bro?” This person is not 100 I thought. “It’s high up there.” I made my point clear. He looked up and back at me. “So climb.” Still he did not get it. “It’s TOO high.” I said. “Yeah ok yeah.” For some reason it seemed like he was sorry for my poor climbing ability. “You get on my shoulder bro. yeah?” Ok. yes. I was climbing on a guy in the middle of the night in the Bijlmer. In addition, he is clearly stoned. But surprisingly very solid. Even standing on his shoulder was not enough for me to reach the balcony. “It’s not enough. I need a little more.” I almost yelled trying to control the fear in my voice.
“Step on my hand bro, yeah?” The person was reaching and stretching his hand up. The crowd was silent. I placed my foot in his big palm and he stretched his hand up as if I was a bird putting back in the nest. It worked! I reached the balcony, pulled myself up and in I went! The crowed was clapping. I was sweating. My legs shaking. Went into the apartment and opened the door. By the time I got downstairs, the crowd was gone. That tattooed man also. Only my client was there happy as anything to get back in. The street was empty. Quiet. There is a special vibe in the Bijlmer. Special.
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