Torqued

Pulled into a store and backed up to the dock. Stopped a few feet short and opened the doors.

Or tried to. The left door swung out just fine, but the right--the latch handle came around about halfway and stuck.

The people at the dock had seen it before. Offered me a pipe to force it with. It was nice of them, so took it politely and tried it. No go. As I expected.

Then I moved the truck a few feet, walked back around, and opened the door almost casually.

"Wow!" they said. How did you DO that?"

"Simple,' I replied modestly. "I've seen this before. There was a low spot in the pavement under one set of drive wheels.

When the tractor and the trailer are too far out of level, the weight of the tractor can twist the trailer until the doorframe is out of true. Then the latches can jam up.

All I had to do was pull up until the tractor was level with the trailer. The trailer straightened out and the door opened right up. Nothing to it."

"You're so clever." one of them said. She was kind of cute, too.

All that took about two seconds. Then I stopped daydreaming and finished backing up to the dock.

They were waiting patiently. Nobody looked especially impressed. Darn