A friend of mine stopped by and knocked on my apartment door. Because I was running a bath, I didn’t hear him.
He continued to knock for a bit, then just stood there (so he reported later) feeling frustrated and confused.
After about 10 minutes, he knocked again, and this time I did hear him. I shouted at him from my bath to come in, and, to his surprise, he tried the door and found it unlocked.
It had been unlocked all the time.
And, in a sudden “Beast in the Jungle” moment, a little epiphany that made my skin prickle, I thought of a terrible epitaph:
“He waited his whole life in fear in front of an unlocked door.”
Hope this helps.