Ten Doors of Note, and the Departures They Permitted

A door is judged by what it lets leave

A door is among the few objects whose entire purpose is to permit a leaving. The Collection ranks ten by the departures they enabled, and reserves the first position for the door that made a single departure unmistakable.

No. 1 · The Standing Entry The only door of the Cumberland Farms on N. Main Street, Concord, New Hampshire. (See the record.) Through it the subject left, having said nothing. A single door makes a departure final: there is no other exit by which the matter could have been reconsidered. The Collection has thanked it formally in its Acknowledgments and means it.
The revolving door that returned a man to the lobby he was trying to leave.A departure denied by the architecture of departure itself.
The automatic door that did not recognise a small person as a person.It opens for carts. It opens for dogs. It withholds judgement on children.
The screen door that slammed and settled an argument.It said what neither party could.
The fire door propped open against every instruction.Permitting departures it was installed expressly to prevent.
The "pull" door pushed with full confidence.The confidence is the memorable part. The door does not move.
The barn door, closed after.A door now permitting only regret.
The door marked "this is not an exit," which was, technically, an exit.A door at war with its own signage.
The elevator door that opened on the wrong floor and changed nothing.A departure offered to no one, accepted by no one.
The door you hold too early, committing both parties to an awkward jog.A kindness rendered, against the odds, into an obligation.

Bulletin No. 009 will rank ten grievances maintained longer than strictly advisable. The longest is twenty-five years old and has a museum.