WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU’VE LOST YOUR CAR KEY?
For a few years now my husband and I share one car. Before we “downsized,” anyplace we’d go, we used only one car, the other left sitting in the garage. More on an impulse than through careful consideration we decided to trade in both cars against a brand new one. Altogether, it was a good decision with one exception—what do I do if I lose my car key while out on my own?
This past December, I stopped at a local restaurant to make arrangements for a Christmas luncheon for my writers’ group. My business taken care of, I headed into the parking lot, groping in my suitcase size handbag for the car key, but my busy fingers didn’t find it. My blood froze, my vision blurred, my heart thrummed like crazy. I returned to the restaurant to empty everything from my bag, cursing myself for carrying such a huge bag when a clutch would do. No key, but the restaurant owner found it on the bar counter. Relieved, I drove off, wondering what I’d have done if I’d really lost the key. My husband couldn’t help as he was at home, several miles distant from me. I guess I could call road assistance, but this time I was spared the hassle.
Since this incident, it’s been on my mind: what would I do if I misplaced or lost the key while in town? With my car it’s not possible to lock myself out, but I certainly could lock it in trunk. Worrying about losing the car key was like a furry animal making sport with my mind.
What follows may be known to you, but when I read about it in Karna Small Bodman’s book “Castle Bravo” I had the answer, the solution, the end of my headache. “Castle Bravo” is a book about a hostile country detonating a small nuclear device in the atmosphere. This detonation creates an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, EMP, frying all electronics in its sight. What if this where to happen in our country? “Castle Bravo” is an engaging and interesting read, but what’s the relevance to losing my car key? In a scene toward the end of the book, one of the characters loses his car keys. The solution is so simple—once you know it. I read the scene aloud to my husband, who was dubious, saying this was fiction, I shouldn’t believe everything I read.
True or not, I had to experiment. In the garage, I locked the car doors from the outside. My husband went about half a mile down the street. He called my cell phone. I answered and held the cell phone close to the car lock. My husband pressed the remote key to his phone and hit the “Unlock” button. Huzzah! Click and the car unlocked. No more “What am I going to do?” no more worries.
This works with my car and cell phone so I leave it up to you to test it on yours. The nifty thing about this is that my car can only be unlocked this way, it cannot be locked.
Of course, I have a valet key in the glove compartment so I can drive off. Of course.
Your take on this is precious so please share your experience by leaving a comment.
Rayne
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