Let’s say you went out for a smoke at 2am. You left your phone (or it’s not working) and keys. It’s -20c outside and you’re in a sweatshirt. There’s no intercom to call neighbors and no busses. All the shops are closed here in Kouvola.

I’ve always wondered what would I do because the only thing I can think of is start a fire or break into the building.

Edit: Actually now that I think of it I guess I could go out to the road and hope someone passed by/stops. Another option for me would be to break a window on my car and use the heater to try and stay warm (I know not everyone has access).

Edit 2: Let’s assume you live at Kumpukuja 4, Kouvola 45740

https://maps.app.goo.gl/FhVVbC4mN8ngqHgq7?g_st=ic

by olenamerikkalainen

24 comments

  1. Find a place that has a 24/7 reception. Anything that has an emergency desk will have someone (think hospital or police).

  2. Scream as loud as i can that im freezing let me inside, somebody should wake up or call police

  3. Knock on someones window, wave down a car, walk to the nearest service station, find a person with a phone. Plenty of options.

    Rookie mistake would be leaving the building without proper clothing, unless you are 100% sure you can get back in.

  4. im about to sleep. but now i hafto overthink about this for the next 5 hours. ugh.

  5. Throw stuff to windows. Not gonna die because its polite

  6. I would throw snowballs to neighbours windows untill someone comes to window and shout “Multa jäi avaimessa sisälle, asun asunnossa XY, voitteko auttaa mulla ei ole ulkovaatteita” and someone would come open the door to staircase and hopefully call me maintenance company to open my door.

  7. That must be the reason the number of smokers in Finland goes down every winter…

  8. Pick up some small rocks and start throwing them at windows (if you are near apartment-buildings) while screaming at the top of my lungs for help.

  10. thats why i always bury a spare key near the front door 😉

  11. I would go and knock/bang on 1st floor windows and doors and shout “apua”. Because that is a real emergency. What ever you do, don’t stay still and hope that some one will come eventually. I don’t think a fire wold save you unless you had plenty of dry wood and a knife. It usually takes me 15-60 minutes to build up a fire in those circumstances so I wouldn’t even bother trying unless I had proper gear and clothes.

  12. If you really own a car then maybe have a good quality felt wool blanket there in the case of emergency. Space blanket is also recommended to be a part of the first aid kit of the car but that may not help much in the really cold temperatures.

  13. Ngl this feels like a Saw trap. In my case I’d probably discover tape in my pocket and pressed play “Hello, L. I want to play a game. Your whole life you ghosted people, turned your back on the ones who love you, but now you are left all alone. You have 2 hours to find a key to unlock the door before you freeze to death. There are clues around leading you to the answers you seek. Look around, know that I’m not lying. Live or die, the choice is yours”.

  14. >Another option for me would be to break a window on my car and use the heater to try and stay warm (I know not everyone has access).

    So you have remembered your car keys but not your apartment keys when going for a smoke… Or how do you get your car started without the keys (or any other tools to jump start it, provided it’s old enough for that).

    If i had access to my car and somehow got it running to warm it, i would just drive somewhere that’s open 24/7 and has a phone

  15. Does the church to the north open 24/7? Also there’s a storage to the west and it opens 24/7 but I’m not sure if the temperature in the lobby allows you to survive for a night.

    I may go north to the church then go east to the housing area and knock someone’s door. Better than dead.

  17. Triggering some car alarms would surely get the neighbours’ attention.

  18. Well this shit happened to me once. Not at 2am and -2x degree but it was minus still and i were in short and tshirt.

    After waiting for like 10 mins in hope of some of my neighbors get home, no one did 🤡. So i just braced myself, and went to a bigger road, stopped the first stranger I saw and asked to borrow his phone. Luckily, back then I remember one of my friend phone number who lives close by…

  19. I’d yell “apua” repeatedly and make a hell of a ruckus whistling and bang on the hallway doors and stuff. I’d just make as much noise as possible. Someone yelling for help in the middle of a -20 night would definitely alert someone.

  20. I don’t know why I have a bad feeling that this isn’t only a hypothetical question. Sounds like you’re trying to go into a building you’re not supposed to go in, I wish I’m wrong.

  21. Something like that happened to me many years ago while I was a drunk student, to top it off. I just waved down some neighbors who happened to also be coming home from a bar and called the huoltoyhtiö emergency number to open my door for a fee.

    It did go through my mind that those were going to be my last moments on earth. I envisioned my frozen corpse being discovered early in the morning, but thankfully no such thing happened, I just was 80 euros lighter.

    It was really dumb and I felt dumb.

  22. When I first moved to lapland from northern Australia (where the coldest it gets all year is about 10 degrees), this thought actually scared me. I forget my keys all the time and get locked out. The sudden realisation that -35 is like living in a microwave oven, you are safe inside your small wooden box but outside _will_ kill you if you can’t get back in. I had never thought of outside as a deadly place. Someone told me it was legal to break in to a building because it is considered a true emergency, necessary life preserving act.

    We were driving from work one -25 night and we found this drunk guy who went to shop to buy pasta only wearing a shirt and jeans. He was too drunk to remember how to walk home. I now wonder if he would have died if we had not driven him home.

    But it was a good community where we lived, I would walk to work 3,5 km each morning and people would stop their cars to check if I was okay. So I think you might be surprised about others.

  24. It happened to me. I walked to the train station rather than die.

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