Woman gets trapped in the Bay for an hour; live-tweets the whole thing
Last night, a Toronto writer named Emily Keeler was idly browsing sheet sets at Hudson’s Bay’s Yonge and Bloor location—by far the scariest one—when the fluorescent lights suddenly flickered out. The store, she quickly realized, had closed for the night, with her still inside it. As she wandered around trying doors and signaling to people in nearby buildings, Keeler kept her Twitter followers updated on the unfolding scenario.
Her increasingly panicky tweets earned dozens of responses, most of which were more concerned with pinning down the relevant pop-culture references (Today’s Special and Mannequin, obviously, but also late-season Dawson’s Creek and, apparently, the pilot for Doctor Who) than helping Keeler figure out how to escape—which (spoiler alert!) she did, in under an hour. Still, it was enough time for news outlets to pick up the story, and for one concerned Twitter follower to circulate a protest sign (see above). Here are some highlights from the fleeting ordeal.
I am trapped at @HudsonsBay_Co at Yonge and Bloor and everything is closed, no one is here. Do I head to bedding for the night or?
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
@emilymkeeler @HudsonsBay_Co Watch out for the mannequins – THEY COME ALIVE.
— Nathan Whitlock (@nathanwhitlock) February 27, 2014
Bonnie Brooks, can you hear me?
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
Oh a person in the office building adjacent noticed me! Apparently I will soon be free!
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
A dude shouted thru the glass to say I should try the mythical fifth floor back doors first.
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
@emilymkeeler sounds like a trap!!!!
— hi! hi! hi! (@BeingMarci) February 27, 2014
Nope! pic.twitter.com/Bi25ziDKJY
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
I did a jig for than and yelled help at one. “@Zeichenstift: @emilymkeeler Try waving at a security camera.”
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
@emilymkeeler A jig will only puzzle them. How about swimming motions?
— Bernard Kelly (@Zeichenstift) February 27, 2014
Security in the office building is calling the manager of this particular store now. They can't find anyone who works in HBC security.
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
Non emerge police dispatcher was all "what do you mean, you're trapped in a department store?"
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
Like, the cops can't literally break me outta here, I guess?
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
Ahhhh! Staff are here!
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
These nice managers freed me! pic.twitter.com/5WR1mmgOAf
— Emily M. Keeler (@emilymkeeler) February 27, 2014
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/style/emily-keeler-trapped-hudsons-bay/&title=Woman gets trapped in the Bay for an hour; live-tweets the whole thing&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Emily-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_262399" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Kristin Foster)[/caption]
Last night, a Toronto writer named Emily Keeler was idly browsing sheet sets at Hudson's Bay’s Yonge and Bloor location—by far the scariest one—when the fluorescent lights suddenly flickered out. The store, she quickly realized, had closed for the night, with her still inside it. As she wandered around trying doors and signaling to people in nearby buildings, Keeler kept her Twitter followers updated on the unfolding scenario.
Her increasingly panicky tweets earned dozens of responses, most of which were more concerned with pinning down the relevant pop-culture references (Today’s Special and Mannequin, obviously, but also late-season Dawson’s Creek and, apparently, the pilot for Doctor Who) than helping Keeler figure out how to escape—which (spoiler alert!) she did, in under an hour. Still, it was enough time for news outlets to pick up the story, and for one concerned Twitter follower to circulate a protest sign (see above). Here are some highlights from the fleeting ordeal.
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438839521812037632
https://twitter.com/nathanwhitlock/status/438840110549716992
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438839982262730753
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438841171276611584
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438842127615684608
https://twitter.com/BeingMarci/status/438842287683293185
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438843027969175552
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438843994249117696
https://twitter.com/Zeichenstift/status/438845348623429632
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438845140640083969
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438848361668427776
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438848776942256128
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438849061169672192
https://twitter.com/emilymkeeler/status/438849498614218752){kind=link}
Sounds like a cheap trick from a writer to get attention and a story out of it
Don’t be an asshole.
this is like the father ted when all the priests get stuck in a lingerie department. except funny.
who cares? its hilarious
Too bad they let you out after only an hour, they should have made you wait longer. I guess you didn’t hear the numerous “store is closing” announcements or perhaps you didn’t think they applied to you cause you’re the center of the universe. Yup, all the staff should wait until you decide to mosey on out. They don’t have better things to do, families to get home to, neither do the managers or security staff who had to come and “rescue” you. You must be a self absorbed, twit desperate for attention.
Hey, can you give me tonight’s lotto numbers? Because your psychic abilities are, like, too good. YOU KNOW EVERYTHING! *bows, as if to a golden god*
cheap hipster trick from a faux-writer wanting publicity. are we really
to believe that this girl (zine, glasses and all) got such an
opportunity to tweet her way into a toronto life article?
gross.
Fake.
The Bay on Queen is open until 9:30pm on Wednesdays. Her first tweet was at 7:54pm.
Even assuming the store closed early for some reason at 7:30pm or 8:00pm it means that she either waited 24 minutes to start tweeting over and over OR she jumped the gun by 6 minutes.
Pathetic publicity stunt.
Shut up asshole.
How is this hilarious?
I guess its better than smoking crack in a drunken stupor to get famous.