Except when I don't.

It's Labor Day weekend, and the football game this weekend is in Atlanta. The dorms are empty. I'm sitting in the main room of my suite, working on various assignments.

Suddenly, this pounding starts up in the hallway. Really loud. Sounds like the guy is hitting the door opposite mine, but sometimes he hits my wall. I turn my music up.

But he keeps on pounding! Concerned now, I look out the little peephole in my door. Sure enough, one of the guys across the hall has gotten locked out of his room and is beating on the door. As I watch, the RA comes over and tells him that he's got someone bringing over the appropriate keys.

But he keeps pounding! Enough. I open the door and ask him to stop pounding because it's making a racket. He turns to look at me and says, "But my key's not working," as if that explains everything.

How cheerfully I could have strangled him. "Pounding on the door isn't going to make it work," I tell him. "If you could keep it down, I would appreciate it."

I close my door and lock it again.

Why are people so stupid?