“I was stranded in Washington, D.C., at the last minute due to weather and discovered there wasn’t a hotel room to be had within 25 miles. Which meant I would have had to rent a car, drive two hours, sleep for four hours at most, then drive back for two hours. So instead, I rented the most comfortable car I could find, drove it an eighth of a mile to the airport parking lot, parked in a dark spot, and slept in the car, using my travel clock to wake me up. When I returned the car, the attendant stared at the mileage. I could see he really wanted to ask me what I was doing with the car, but he didn’t ask. And he didn’t charge me for gas.”
— Brent Bergin, Highland Village, Texas

ALL UNDRESSED AND NO PLACE TO GO
“While on a business trip in Wichita, I got out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower. When I was finished, I stepped out and started drying off. I then turned around to open the bathroom door and the tumbler inside the handle didn’t engage. I fumbled with the lock and started working the handle and still no luck. The door to my hotel room was locked, bolted, and chained shut and I was trapped in the bathroom with no tools, no phone, no window, and no clothes! All kinds of thoughts run through your head at a time like this, like How am I going to get out, when will someone find me, how many appointments will I miss? Luckily, I located a pair of tweezers in my toiletry kit and after 40 minutes I was able to loosen one of the screws holding the knob assembly together and eventually freed myself.”
— Peter Jenner , Fairport, New York

susy pilgrim waters is an illustrator based in boston. her art has appeared in the new york times, context, the boston globe, and other publications.