An Hour in the Lobby

There are places we never walk into, though the door is open and nobody is guarding it. This hour is about who hung the lock there.

Pick a hotel you would never book, and come in the afternoon when the lobby is quiet. Walk straight past reception to the armchairs — people who live here do not hover at the desk. Sit down, put your phone face down and stay. Order tea if you feel like it, or nothing: sitting in a lobby costs nothing. Watch who comes and goes, who belongs here and how you can tell — the walk, the volume, the fact that they ask no one for permission. If the thought comes that someone is about to ask you to leave, notice it and sit out the full hour.

What other doors do I walk past, though nobody has ever stopped me?