Cleveland commuters abandoned federal buildings after whispers that Doug's ledger now required a secret PIN. The usual sign-in ritual collapsed into a scramble, stranding seventeen county vehicles whose drivers chose flight over the standard visual check.
Gladys Hargrove escaped the lobby and later described the sudden shift from routine to alarm. Doug, unmoved at his post, repeated that his role stopped at a nod and carried no codes.
The DMV warned that any invented four-digit entry would force a full ledger reprint and extra hours for the guard. By mid-morning the building stood empty, twelve streets were blocked, and the parked vans earned the nickname "vehicles of despair."
Leanne Trumbull of the Bureau of Civil Absurdities called the episode a minor hitch in an otherwise reliable system and noted that Doug remained on duty. Commuters now refer to the episode as the Ledger-Lock.
