Car Keys lost!

A dear friend has related to me this week her tale of woe following the disappearance of the key to the car. This reminded me of my own experience that happened many years ago that taught me to never allow it to happen again.

At that time I had rented a car from Boston airport and I drove it north into New Hampshire to go skiing. I rented a place to live and off we went to the ski slopes. After a day out it was time to return to the hotel. I was frozen to the bone. I got the key out of my pocket, but because my hands were so cold I fumbled the key and dropped it. I had not noticed that I had parked directly over a grate into a drain. Even if it were possible to normally remove the covering, with the car standing over it that was out of the question.

None of the options that were possibly open to me were going to be inexpensive, convenient, quick, or warm. In the end getting a second key cost much more than the original rental. I said then that I would never ever again  lose the key to the car. Considering that was more than fifty years ago and it has never happened again, I can say so far, so good.

However, I owned a Chrysler people carrier for which I had about six keys and still managed to lock all six in the car. More trouble, but at least it was during the Summer.

I notice how other people treat their keys because it's something that is very much on my mind. There is often no plan at all to protect the safety and security of such an important item. These days cars come with such high tech security keys that to try and replace them involves so much. Now, if thieves want to steal your car they have to break into your house to get the key, and while they are there they also take your other stuff and drive off in your Porsche.

My routine goes like this. I carry a man bag on which I clip my house keys and my car keys. That way, if I have my bag I also have my keys. Once I reach my destination and I lock the car I immediately attach my car key to my bag in the same location. Once or twice I have been lazy and simply put the key in my pocket. You should see the panic when I reach to where the key should be and it's not there.

I also carry a spare key. This key is completely worthless if it's at home or inside the car. It has to be with me wherever I go. In fact it forms a part of duplicates to all my keys, which makes my bag so heavy. A good object lesson from this is the following incident:  I was far from home at an Ikea store when I was loading the goods purchased in the boot of my car. Someone passing in his car stopped to ask me directions, and during those moments when I was dealing with him his partner stole the keys to my car. Now my car was a sitting duck, just waiting for him to come back when I had moved away from it to report the incident.

What foiled him was that I had a spare set on my belt and I simply drove to the police station to make my report.

The only other thing that can so completely change your plans for the day is the flat tyre. That we cannot avoid if it's going to happen, but at least we carry a spare with us. However, it seems to me that flat tyres are reserved for nights or rainy weather.

So, care and protection of the car key deserves a very high priority, because to lose your key is going to be expensive and a real pain in the arse. Take my word for it, I've done that and it is not something I ever want to repeat.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael