Arriving back to the hotel after an intense working dinner (and more computer problems) we walked up to our rooms, discussing the plans for the next day. It was already 1 am and we were due at our first meeting at 7:30 am. Oh, sleep. How I miss you. We got to her room first. She inserted the card key and the light on the door flashed red. Not again. It seemed like every time we left our rooms, our keys wouldn’t work. I tried my key in my room, which was next door to hers. Red lights flashed.

We walked back down to reception to have our key cards re-keyed. After four days of this, she had reached her limit (I was simply beaten). “Enough of this! How come every time we leave our room our keys don’t work?” The desk clerk smiled and wagged his head. “Ma’am, when the other person uses the key, it disables your key.” My colleague and I turned to each other in amazement. “Then what’s the use of giving two keys? Each of us has a roommate. There are two keys for each room. Why would you disable one if the other is used? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” He smiled again, immune to her criticism. “It’s for security purposes, ma’am.” She started to issue a retort, but thought better and simply sighed.

India always wins.