in a pickle

SB was on his way to meet friends and when the lift doors opened, the elderly lady from the commune who occupy the flat next door stepped out.  He told me that she paused as she was exiting and then paused again as he got into the lift car.  He held the door open, thinking that she might have changed her mind and wanted to go back down but she shook her head.  Then, as the door was closing, she called out at him.  He quickly opened the door for her but she shook her head and then started rummaging through her bag and produced a jar of pickled vegetables.  SB understood immediately. He is a very strong guy but he said that he struggled to finally open the jar, much to her delight. He and I had a chuckle imagining that she had been wandering around the building, trying to find someone to open her beloved pickles. He told me that it's always a great feeling to be able to do something useful for neighbors.

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