Ben-Lo

Ben the Locksmith (like Ben Affleck- Jennifer Lopez...only better)

Yester-evening I got an S.O.S. from my friend Rachna, who had locked herself out of the apartment without a spare key. She was considering hurling a large stone at the living room window, carefulling removing the resultant sharpnels and crawling into the room to retrieve the keys. I had other thoughts. I knew just the right man for the job...my former office-mate Ben.

While the rest of us mortals use an analog clock...or a digital clock as in my case, Ben has one that tells the time in binary. Thats how smart he is! At MIT, along with the difficult computer courses, he had mastered the 'MIT Guide to Lock Picking'. He demonstrated his skills at the workplace once...I had securely tethered my laptop to my desk and had gone to get a glass of water. He had it open in 30 seconds...and he didnt cut the cable.

I gave him a call and explained the situation, sensing his glee as I mentioned unlocking locks. He was over at Rachna's apartment in as much time it takes to drive home from work, pick up his wife and the tools and get to the apt. With his instruments he had the lock open in 2 minutes (which incidentally was the same time it took me to read the time from his binary clock). His wife was disappointed...she has usually seen him crack locks in under a minute.

If I was ever at MIT, I wouldn’t even bother to lock my doors.