TIFU by going for a walk and getting locked in a football field

Hello all. I (21F) moved to a new city for work in January, and since today was one of the first nice days I’ve had off work I decided to finally take a walk around my neighbourhood. I live on a crescent that has a street and court with the same name connected to one end of it, sort of in a J shape, and took an after work walk around the crescent last weekend. This was when I noticed for the first time that the first house number on the crescent was 271 and I was like, “I wonder where houses 1 through 270 are ?”. I figured the house numbers below 271 were probably on the street and court going the other way so I took my walk today as time to confirm this theory and sure enough there was house number 1 at the end of the court, mission accomplished !

As I got to the end of the street (where it turned into the court with the same name), I noticed the sidewalk ended there and to the left was a path. I decided to follow this path and it lead me to the back of a nearby university I pass by every day on my way to work. I started walking through the parking lot and just checking out the campus and eventually found a path leading me back to the street I had begun this adventure on.

From here I was planning to just head back home, but I got a call from my best friend from my hometown, who had just called to ask me a question about something she wanted to buy but it quickly turned into a full blown conversation about everything we have been up to over the past month since we last saw each other. In the beginning, she spoke about how nice out it was today so I mentioned that I was out for a walk. Just then, I noticed another path, this time leading to a playground and decided to follow it, figuring i could find somewhere to sit down and continue our conversation while enjoying the sun. Next to this playground was a football field just around the corner from my house, I believe this playground and field are part of a rec complex or something but I’m not totally sure. Unfortunately, the playground was a little busy so I continued walking, deciding that continuing this loud phone conversation in front of several young children, which at this point had shifted to the events of an unhinged Saturday night out we had with a couple of my friends from work a couple months back wasn’t the best idea.

The football field was surrounded by a tall chain link fence, on which there was a large sign saying something along the lines of “field is closed do not use”. This is where the FU happens. I figured the sign had been placed there in the winter or something and not removed yet, as I had seen the field in use a number of times over the last week or two while driving by, so I entered through an open gate and sat on the bleachers not thinking much of it.

Maybe about 5 minutes later, I saw a man, who i assume was a city worker after the misfortune that followed, approaching the field from the corner of my eye, but he didn’t see me. I turned my head to see him closing the gate, but stayed put because I was worried about getting in trouble or something. This is when I notice that this man is LOCKING THE GATE. Oh my god. My eyes widened and I whispered “oh my god” into the phone, which deeply worried my best friend. I get off the bleachers and begin walking, letting her know that a man just came and locked the open gate i entered the field through and I was now locked inside this football field. My best friend said I would have to jump the fence, and panic began to set in as I looked around and realized these fences were all way too high for me to jump, especially since I have horrible balance and coordination and the sweater around my waist, sunglasses on my head and already dented and messed up water bottle I was holding would no doubt get damaged in the process.

Finally I notice the large gate with about a foot, give or take, of space between the bottom of the gate and the ground, which would end up being my saving grace. I quietly explain my plan to my best friend, who is prepared to call for help if I end up misjudging the gap and getting stuck. I laid face down on the ground and crawled/ wiggled my way through the gap. I successfully made it, reached back under to retrieve my water bottle and sweater and just sat on the pavement for a few minutes thanking every higher being for that gate being there to save me before walking back home. I learned a valuable lesson to not assume that what any sign may say isn’t true and will never go into a football field to enjoy a sunny day again.

TL;DR going for a walk to enjoy a sunny day and explore my new neighbourhood ended with me getting locked inside a football field, managed to escape via a gate that was locked but didn’t go all the way to the ground.