Tom, a maintenance professional in a giant office building, gained a work order to clean the Heating and AC ductwork.
Although he had never done this job before, he thought it would be a cakewalk.
Tom began his work by climbing up to the ceiling and opening the ductwork access panels. As he gazed inside the labyrinthine Heating and AC ductwork, he broke out in a freezing sweat, realizing that he had no system where to begin. Tom was in a fix. Just then, he saw a small mouse peeking out of one of the ducts. The mouse looked at Tom, twitches its nose, and then darted away into the maze of pipes. Tom had a brilliant idea. He would follow the mouse through the Heating and AC ductwork to see where it led. Without wasting any more time, Tom crawled into the duct and started to follow the mouse. The duct was so cramped that he had to crawl on his belly. He crawled and crawled, tailing the mouse as it zigzagged through the Heating and AC ductwork. Tom was so engrossed in following the mouse that he did not realize he had crawled past the point of no return. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise behind him. He turned around to see that the access panel had closed behind him. He was trapped in the Heating and AC ductwork! Tom started to panic. He yelled for help, however no one could hear him. He was stuck in the ductwork for minutes until a team of firefighters came to his rescue. They had to break through the duct to free him, and from that day on, Tom made sure to double-check the access panels before crawling into the Heating and AC ductwork. As for the mouse, it was never seen again.