Car Key Adventure

My car has a safety feature that is supposed to keep you from locking your keys in. That is, you're not supposed to be able to lock the door while it's open. And so for the first little while that I owned my car, I ignorantly waited until I was out of the car, then locked it with the key. (They also didn't give my automatic locks with the little button keychain contraption, which was a major disappointment, but that's another story.)

However, it wasn't too long before I noticed that sometimes the door would manage to lock before I closed the door, and soon realized it was when I was still holding the handle open from the inside. That is, if I pressed down the lock at the same time as I had the handle out for opening the door, it locked, so I didn't have to use the key. Once I figured that out, I have been locking the door without the key--for the past five and a half years. Never once have I locked my car keys in the car.

Until Thursday.

I went to the BYU Management Society luncheon in DC in the morning (it started at 12:00. I left in the morning). For some reason I felt I really needed to go, though I'm not sure why exactly. I mean it was good--perhaps worthy of another post. But anyway, since I was running late, I decided to drive to the metro station closest to DC where I could park, which was Pentagon City. It also has the highest parking fee. But since it's in a mall garage, once I realized I could validate parking, I figured it was worth it. It's Christmas season, after all. Surely there must be something I could buy.

But I was selfish, bought something for myself, and something that even contradicts my personal standards. (I've deleted the post that indicates what this personal standard is, but for those of you who remember, it has to do with clothes and has nothing to do with modesty.) And so I was punished. Maybe.

On my way home from the mall, I stopped at a gas station in Alexandria city, kind of near a place I used to live, so I was familiar with the area, and it also had the cheapest gas I'd seen around --at $1.63. Not bad, huh? (Across the street it was $1.64, but when I came back later in the evening, they'd dropped to $1.61. I suppose you never can keep up.)

I'd been pretty warm in the mall, and I'd gotten a sweet parking spot--the closest possible to Macy's in the covered parking. So my coat was off, laying on the passenger seat. But I could really feel the cold once I started the gas pumping so I was going to just sit back in my car and wait, when Wait! I can't open the door. What? I locked the door, and there on top of my coat sat my purse, which had my cell phone and every phone number I could possibly need, and my keys. Yikes.

So I ran into the the gas station and told them the dilemma. The nice manager, an Indian man in his 60s or 70s teased me a bit. "You have a spare key in your house? It will cost $100 or more to get a locksmith." Eesh.

"Yes, I think I know I have a spare key, and I think I know where it is."

"Do you want to call someone?"

"I have two roommates, but their phone numbers are in my phone. I don't know them."

"You don't know your roommates' phone numbers?" He was surprised. "Do you have a house phone? You could yell at the answering machine for someone to pick up."

"We have a house phone, but I don't know that number either. It's my roommate's, so I don't give it out."

"You don't know your house phone number?"

Luckily a man checking out defended me, "I don't know my wife's phone number. I just scroll to it and pop. Push the button."

"Oh, so that's how it works these days. Nobody knows their friends' numbers."

I guess he didn't have a cell phone. Some people, I suppose are not as connected. This digital world isn't quite as completely digital as we sometimes like to convince ourselves, perhaps.

"Do you have a job?"

"No. I'm looking."

"Oh, no no. No job. Looking for a husband, too, right?"

"Of course." I smiled and laughed.

"Maybe God wanted you to lock your keys in your car, so we could meet?" (He was kind of a funny guy, at least.) "Well, if you can't get a hold of anyone, you can come sleep at my house--don't worry, I have a separate bed."

Ha ha. But seriously, he told me later he would have taken me all the way to my house, which was a few miles away and since it was kind of close to rush hour, it would have been a long haul. But since my house key was also on my key chain, he figured that wouldn't have worked so well.

I didn't think the Sonoco would have the internet, but I knew the internet would have my friends' numbers. So I asked if they knew anywhere nearby that might have it. They looked stumped, so I decided just to wander around, over to the outdoor mall just a few yards away. Someone had to have some means to the internet.

I thought I vaguely remembered that maybe an old friend's dad owned a store in the corner, so I headed to that corner, but that store wasn't there. Ah. No, that was another outdoor mall near another place where I used to live. Yeah, I've lived in too many places. But aha! In that corner, there was a Kodak place. And lo and behold, they even had a computer with internet access right there in their lobby.

Answers to prayers!

I sent an email to my roommates, then found a phone number, and ran back to the Sonoco to call. Then waited and waited. Maybe I should have gotten the other roommate's number, too. Though Angelee was more likely to be home around the 4:00 hour when this was taking place, she had lost her phone last I heard. So I ran back to the Kodak place to get a few more phone numbers. And then, just as I had written them down, I turned to find the nice Indian face standing beside me. He'd come to get me so I didn't have to walk back in the cold. Ah. what a nice man.

Back at the Sonoco, I placed a few more calls, left a few messages, and chatted with the nice man for awhile. He had never married, had no children, but did have a few brothers and they had children. He liked being a good uncle, particularly to his one brother's daughter, but she'd decided to go out with a boy he didn't approve of so she wasn't speaking to him. Very sad. But he did have other brothers to spend time with. He was very close to his mother, but she'd passed away a few years ago. So now it was just him. He seemed to have a really positive attitude about everything, though. Very upbeat. Nice to meet new people, see the world through other people's eyes for a brief time. Maybe God did want me to lock my keys in my car so I could meet him.

Then I remembered some other people who might have keys to my house and might be home, so the nice Indian man (I never did get his name) drove me back to the Kodak place where they welcomed me warmly again. All kinds of friends to be made, huh? Then he drove me back and I made a few more calls. Finally, yeah! I got a hold of Carrie, my wonderful, sweet roommate. She hadn't found the spare where I thought it was, but she was coming to get me.

I knew she had something going on that night so I was so grateful she was able to come. And it had been awhile since we'd talked with all of our comings and goings. And in answer to prayers, again, I found my spare shortly after I got home. Carrie had to go out, as I'd thought, but when she came back, she was so kind to take me back and get my car. Everything worked out just fine. And really, it was all in answer to other prayers that I get a little exercise (which I did, running back and forth between Kodak and Sonoco places, as well as earlier that day to get to the BYU luncheon), that I have things to do outside my apartment and visit with people.

I didn't quite get a job out of it, but I guess I can't have everything. Still, it wasn't such a bad punishment for my selfish purchase, after all.