You think you have troubles when stuck in a bad contract? How about these "truth is stranger than fiction" tales of people stuck where they shouldn't be.

A three-year-old climbed into a claw machine and spent an hour there before rescue. And where was his father? In the pub next door. "He's always been a mischievous boy," dad said, showing little concern.

A man thought it might be fun to put an orange traffic cone on his head, and got stuck. It took two hours for someone to finally call the police to help him.

Then there was the Melbourne guy who climbed into a top-loading washing machine, planning to surprise his partner. The washer had to be disassembled around him to get him out. "My advice," said a first responder, "would be for people to not climb into appliances." Ya think? These people vote and have children!

But I digress. Let's look at some situations where we need to think twice so we don't get stuck in a bad place. Pard makes a Takeout Double and we need to respond. We need to show two aspects of our hand... shape and point count. Remember Pard is a) short in their suit, b) probably has four in any unbid major, c) has an opening-ish hand, and d) can tolerate any suit we bid.