[Fiction question] Where can you rent or secure an always-accessible storage locker or lockable unit large enough for a gym bag?
Asked by
Jeruba (
56106
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April 19th, 2011
If you want to store a gym bag that you can get at anytime, but where you can go in and out freely and anonymously, where do you go? It doesn’t literally have to be 24/7 as long as there’s ready access during the day, including weekends.
You’re definitely not keeping the bag at home or in your car.
You can’t keep the bag securely at work, and you’d attract attention popping in and out. At the Y or an athletic club, too, people will know you and notice that you go right in and out.
There’s going to be a parking problem at a downtown bus station. At the airport, you’ll have to pay for parking, and it won’t be very close to the terminal. Those are major disadvantages.
If you just rent a large postal box at a mail drop, can you keep whatever you want there?—use it as storage? Are there units large enough for a gym bag?
Even better if this storage unit is in a place where you can also change discreetly into the costume you keep in the gym bag, without attracting special notice.
Bonus points if it’s a really creative location such as a church, a hospital, or a tourist destination.
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11 Answers
Does it have to be just large enough for a gym bag or can it be larger? Does the owner of the gym bag have significant financial means?
If it can be a larger storage space and the owner is financially able, why not have him/her rent an apartment relatively far from his/her home? This could work if your character needs to change into the costume often, because then it wouldn’t be strange for someone to go in and out of an apartment a lot, and if he/she was absent for long periods of time, this could be explained away by your character masquerading as a business man who goes on lots of business trips. If the apartment is sparsely furnished and the landlord has to poke his head in, it could be explained away as a love nest. Furthermore, if you need some kind of conflict to arise around the gym bag, a landlord or maintenance man could stumble upon it when entering the apartment because of some emergency such as a burst pipe or structural damage.
If your character does not have the financial capability to do this, perhaps he/she can hide the bag in an amusement park and find a secret way to sneak in. Once inside, he/she could blend in with the crowd until he/she got to the duffel bag.
He could indeed afford a small apartment or rented room. He’s this guy. But there would be traceable records and a high recognition factor. He wants to be invisible. Innocuous. Anonymous. And he wants to pull this off once a week.
Although, come to think of it—he’d better have another car, too.
Maybe he could rent a garage somewhere? Can you do that?
You must be able to.
Oh, wait, I’ve got it! Can he own a boat? If he owns a smallish boat, he can rent a slip and he would be able to come and go whenever he wanted. It could even be a seedy little marina where, for a few extra bucks, the guy who runs it could look the other way and take cash instead of a check or money order. Honestly, I’m thinking a little bit of Dexter. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for a well-off man in his forties to own a boat and if he had one with a cabin, even a small one, he could change in and out of his costume no problem.
Can I ask why he needs a place to both hide and change into a costume? Is he a superhero?
I didn’t think of a train station, @john65pennington, but I’d imagine there’s be a parking problem similar to the bus station situation. The Y was mentioned in my details: . At the Y or an athletic club, too, people will know you and notice that you go right in and out. He doesn’t want to be noticed or remembered.
He’s up to something, @KatawaGrey, and can’t risk being recognized. Unfortunately, no, he’s not a superhero. I like the boat idea, but I’m afraid that it wouldn’t be anonymous enough. He’d be at the mercy of the manager at the marina. Also, although he looks like a guy who’d be getting on a boat, in costume he does not look like someone who’d be getting off one.
Is he single? He could have a wife, or any other family member, who is sick, so it’s hidden in the ceiling of her hospital room. But that might be a little too obvious if it’s found, since it would be traced back to him. So how about a graveyard. A hollowed-out part in the floor of a tomb, or just the ground, of a small and discreet graveyard. Have a hole lined with concrete or bricks and store it there. Seal it with something and cover the lid with a layer of grass to hide it. Even just an empty coffin in a tomb would suffice for this purpose. Visiting a grave once or twice a week is normal, he could always request to be alone if he’s with anybody and graveyards tend to not be that crowded so it wouldn’t be an issue picking a spot far in the back near the overgrowth and trees. Also, it’s in relatively plain sight, so it’s be even less expected.
Wow, graveyard. I have to think about that.
He lives with his girlfriend. And this costume business is weekly, year in, year out, and can’t depend on someone’s being sick or hospitalized. Besides, the girlfriend is one of the people he’s hiding his secret from. When I mentioned hospitals, I was thinking more about 24-hour access and the possible presence of lockers somewhere on the premises.
Some universities (maybe other places too?) have Bike Lockers. They’re outside, because they’re for storing a bike, so no one would notice you coming and going. The only weird part would be if people are around and notice you don’t have a bike in your bike locker. A little discretion and a non-crowded location could solve this. You could slip into a university building to change clothes in a bathroom.
University buildings! Brilliant! I’ll bet there are lockers in some kind of commons area. And on a big urban campus, a lot of people come and go all the time without attracting any notice. Thanks, @hannahsugs.
Bowling alley…most are open 7 days a week.
@Jeruba: no problem! It’s fun to help someone else be creative :)
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