The Little Troubles of an Insulated Padlock

Once upon a time, there was a hardworking insulated padlock. It guarded doors day and night, never complaining. But just like anyone who works too hard, sometimes it ran into little problems.

One day, the shackle refused to pop up.
“Why are you stuck?” the key asked.
The padlock sighed, “My shackle is too tight…”
So the key turned to the open position and called in a tiny hammer, who gently tapped the shackle until—pop!—it jumped free again.

Another time, the lock cylinder refused to turn.
“I’m rusty,” groaned the padlock after sitting unused for too long.
So the key gave it a little “medicine”—a few drops of diesel or gasoline. With that, the padlock felt refreshed and started turning smoothly again.

One unlucky day, a key got stuck inside the lock body.
“Help! I can’t get out!” the key cried.
Tweezers came to the rescue, gently pulling it free. And when the cylinder cracked in the middle, the padlock’s friends removed a small sealing plate, patched it with aluminum wire, and put everything back together. The padlock felt as good as new.

And sometimes, after years of loyal service, the key found it hard to slide in and out.
“No worries,” said the owner, sprinkling a little graphite powder into the keyhole—just like magic dust from a pencil. Soon, the key was dancing in and out again, happy as ever.

From then on, the insulated padlock learned: even the strongest guardian needs a little care from time to time.