Got Back At The Apartment

Almost 30 years ago I lived in a poorly-managed apartment, which was really lackadaisical about maintenance. I particularly remember that one light fixture required a very special kind of bulb, so I couldn't just put an ordinary bulb in from the store. When it burned out I asked for months for them to replace it but they never did. Many similar problems occurred throughout the year. When I moved out, they withheld my entire security deposit, listing things that weren't clean, like the two windowsills for which alone they itemized as $10, though it could only have taken 2 minutes to wipe them clean. And several things they just made up, claiming I didn't clean them when I did. I didn't leave it perfect, but this was outrageous; I sued them and got half the money back, which wasn't enough.

I plotted. There was no lock on the building main door, and sometimes they left hallway storage or utility closets unlocked. So one day I went back (my new place was a few blocks away) and I used an electric screwdriver to take apart the lock on one of those closet doors, and took it to a locksmith in another city to get a key made for it. $10 and a few days later, I returned and put the lock back on. Then over the course of the next few months I came back on weekends or other safe times and tried the key on other doors. They occasionally stored odd bits of furniture or tools in various closets I could now access, and before long I made several trips to second-hand stores to sell these, soon recouping my lost utility deposit, and a bit extra for my time and trouble (and the locksmith's fee). They never found out, and I don't even know how much they noticed things missing. But I got back what they stole from me.

I still have the key, and looking at it just now reminded me I should post this story. I doubt it fits any locks anymore, and I live far away now, so it's just a reminder of some revenge I got on some jerks who thought they could get away with screwing over a renter.