So I did a dumb thing today.

[OAITW r.2.0]

Made my bi-monthly trip to walmart for some groceries, but mainly to recharge my bird-food supply. It's about 24 degrees here in Maine and I left my parka and gloves in the car. Shop and return. Open the drivers door with key, put keys on dash and, instead of hitting the door open switch for my doors, I hit door closed.....and shut the drivers side door.

In that moment, I thought, I am screwn. Phone was left back home, 20 miles away. Now what?

So, this guy comes walking past me and sees I am royally pissed. "Hey, bud, what's up?" Explained my stupidity and he pulls out his phone and calls a local towing/vehicle assistance person to come to my assistance. Had to wait 15 minutes in the freezing cold, but this lady shows up with a door opening tool. She unlocked it. In that moment, I wanted to hug her....but I happily paid her service fee via a debit.

Could have been worse......

Tech note: Dodge Dakota, 2005. Real key, real problems when you leave real key in the truck and lock the door.

[tblue37]

1. I did something similar once, and when I paid the fee, I called it my $40 stupidity tax.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. It cost me $50, but, as I told her, "the best $50 I spent all day".

[tblue37]

9. This was about 15 years ago. I'm sure it would be at least $50 now.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. $50 is good. Many of these lock folks charge $100 or more. Not sure what AAA charges.

.

I think my auto policy covers lockouts.

I'm paranoid about that, so I try to drive with a second set of door keys in my pocket.

I locked myself out at Disney World once, with the fam in tow by setting the keys in the trunk. It took over an hour to take the bus around the park to my hotel room and then to the parking lot again.

.

[luvtheGWN]

43. But the real question is....

....why did you leave your parka in the car? My goodness, our temps here in Niagara are about the same these past few days and I won't get into and out of the car without my coat and gloves on!

Anyhow, glad your good samaritan happened by and helped out!

[OAITW r.2.0]

79. Had a long sleeve undershirt, thermal outer shirt and a vest on.

A 3 minute walk to the store is doable and more comfortable than wearing a parka on top of the 3 layers. But when you lock yourself out for 1/2 an hour, it's seems to get a lot colder just standing around and waiting to get the door open.

[luvtheGWN]

84. Talk about layers!!!!!

Yes, I can see why you'd leave the parka in the car!

[GopherGal]

78. Probably you made her day by being so good-natured about it.

My keys-left-in-car incident was at the license bureau (set keys down to get proof of insurance card out of glove compartment; forgot keys...) One suddenly advantageous thing about that license bureau: shared a parking lot with the police station.

[magicarpet]

2. Lucky you,... much better than having to break a window.

Androscoggin here,... you Cumberland ?

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. Walmart in Newport....I live in Dexter.

[magicarpet]

16. Auburn here,.... out by the lake.

[MyOwnPeace]

3. Just the thought.......

of being 'screwn' on a cold winter day in Maine is enough to mess up a day for me!

Glad you got it all worked out!

[Blue_true]

5. I locked myself out of my vehicle a couple of times years back.

Since those farces, I have been religious about putting my keys in my pocket and no where else until the ignition key is in the ignition with me in the driver’s seat.

[tblue37]

12. I got a spiral plastic stretchy wristband, so my keys go on my wrist when I get out of the car.

[Blue_true]

18. That works. nt

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

6. I thought 24 was beach weather in Maine!

Were you wearing shorts?

[OAITW r.2.0]

39. Maybe 40 years ago, but not at 68!

Wasn't cold enough to wear long johns, though.....

[msongs]

7. keep a spare key in your wallet nt

[Wounded Bear]

10. That's what I do...

after a couple of times locking the vehicle with the motor running.

[csziggy]

14. Have you seen the size of some of the car keys these days?

My Honda Fit key is huge. It won't fit in my pocket unless I want to stab myself in the abdomen when I sit down. Basically it has a clicker part larger than the one for our Prius, then unlike the Prius it has the working part of the key that is twice as long as any of my other vehicles.

It's way too big to fit in a wallet!

What is really ironic is that the smallest car I have ever owned has to largest car key I've ever seen.

[msongs]

24. my key just opens the door, will not start the car as it has no chip so has no big black plastic bit

[csziggy]

25. Honda only gave me two of these giant keys

I wonder if I could get a smaller one just to open a door? Oh, well, if I lock myself out, I can call AAA - if I have my wallet and my AAA card, that is.

[former9thward]

61. Any key making place will make you a regular key to open the door.

Cost you a couple bucks just like any other key duplication would.

[csziggy]

62. Thanks, I'll check that out

A regular sized key could fit almost anywhere so that would be a guaranty that Iw on't lock myself out of my car. I'm getting to the age where I could do something like that even if I never have before.

[luvtheGWN]

46. A great safety feature in my car, a Rav 4 Hybrid

is that if the key fob is left in the car, the doors won't lock. It was true with my former Camry too.

[jpak]

37. Me too

[Totally Tunsie]

13. ...and don't you always realize it the second you hear

that dreaded *click*?



Glad you made out OK!

[doc03]

15. Been there done that. One time I locked my keys in my 1974 VW beetle back then

cars had a small vent window solved that with a brick. Another time a policeman got a tool and opened the
door I guess they are not allowed to do that anymore.

[blm]

17. Been there

[brooklynite]

19. My new car lets me unlock the door just by pulling the handle...

...as long as the key is proximate.

[csziggy]

26. That's how the Prius works

My husband is so spoiled now that when he drives the truck he tries to open the door without getting the key out. What's funny is that the clicker is so weak it no longer works to unlock the door. We have to actually put the key in the door lock!

So we have three levels of vehicles - the key in the pocket Prius, the Honda Fit giant key, and the ancient Suburban key that now only works when physically in the lock or ignition.

[jmowreader]

38. Mine has that too

I have to remove the key from my pocket to open the tailgate, but other than that it stays in my pocket from the moment I lock the house door until the moment I have to unlock the same door.

[cannabis_flower]

55. And the extra good things is

If you leave your keys in the car, the car won’t lock!

[Squinch]

76. This has saved me from doing exactly what the OP did about 5 times.

My car also beeps at me when I try to lock the car when the keys are inside. I love that my car yells at me when I am about to do something stupid.

[Hoyt]

21. Locked my keys in running car out in middle of nowhere. Had to break window.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. Good thing that guy was able to help you!

I have a smart key, so-called. If I leave it in the car and try to lock the car, it won't let me do that. It beeps at me till I wake up!

[Squinch]

23. Totally sounds like something I would do.

[Doreen]

27. Been there done that.

I was lucky it was in the summer and that was one of the nights that a couple of guys were at my workplace.

Another time for some reason the doors locked when I shut the door and the biggest problem was that my car was running. It ran for about half an hour while I looked for a way to get it open. My husband had to leave work and come let me in with his key. Oh yeah, my poor dog was in there.

[DURHAM D]

28. This is why I have AAA. nt

[FakeNoose]

29. We call this "experience"

We all gain our experience in our own way. Am I right?

Something tells me you'll never make this mistake again.

[OAITW r.2.0]

41. LOL, I am 68....running out of time to learn from experience.

It struck me as both a most depressing moment until it became a very happy moment.

[Delarage]

30. Done that a lot

I now have keys wired up under both of our vehicles. I recently had to crawl under the car at Home Depot to unwire my backup key. If my window is slightly cracked open (like in the summer), I've been able (a couple times) to find a long stick and go fishing for the keys in the car or to hit the unlock button---much to the amusement of passersby. One time a neighbor who I didn't know used to be in the locksmith business saw me "fishing" and stopped by (at the Harbor Freight parking lot) and got his tools out and got me in.

[NJCher]

60. This is the best solution, imo

I figured how to make my license plate frame a holder for the key. It’s real easy to retrieve.

[yankeepants]

31. I order my bird food from Chewy. Car not necessary.

[FailureToCommunicate]

32. Glad it worked out! I shut the back door after loading a package and heard the auto lock click...

I stood there wondering what I could do... and had a eureka moment. I went back in to the home center and bought a set of hot dog campfire tongs.

Back at the car I was wiggling it down to try to unlock the door. A little old lady in the car next to me scowled and muttered about calling the cops. I tried halfheartedly to explain that this was MY car, but she looked doubtful and drove off to find the mall police.

Just as they pulled up, I got the door open, and waved and backed out of my spot.

I grew up in a majority black neighborhood and was fully aware at that moment that if my skin color had been anything but white, it could have ended very differently for me.

[marble falls]

33. Coulda been worse ...

[OAITW r.2.0]

42. Now that is a story that needs telling!

[marble falls]

44. He was driving while high?

[OAITW r.2.0]

47. He almost cleared the runway.....

hope the trays were up in their upright position....

[marble falls]

50. New warning feature in jeeps ...

[kas125]

34. I did that once and got yelled at by the locksmith guy.

It was a long time ago, when my kids were little. Parked the car at the mall, got the baby out, shut the door and then saw that my keys were in the kid's car seat. I was able to call a locksmith who arrived and was absolutely furious with me because I was interrupting his Bears game.

[leighbythesea2]

35. Most of DU i bet could add theirs

To this thread.
Glad it worked out, as smoothly as it did! That's the worst feeling.

[marble falls]

45. I watched while the guy unlocked my car, now I have a fallback career in the underworld.

[leighbythesea2]

82. my family had a used car lot

grew up watching a lot of locked doors get opened. lol, you probably could now.
My first instinct is, I can do this...........

[marble falls]

83. Its crazy easy, all it takes is nerve, an ability to finesse rather than force. Plenty of practice

... and all my own. I was dumb enough to leave my keys, but clever enough to get them back.

[leighbythesea2]

85. True

! Go in knowing patience is needed. But you're locked out, so you aren't going anywhere, anyway....
Cold, and no coat tho. Yikes. Glad it worked out.

[GoCubsGo]

36. Been there, done that.

One of the reasons I have AAA.

[Wawannabe]

40. I picked up a box of baby chicks once

And locked them in the backseat of my car!
No deaths because wasn’t much more than a half hour and springtime but it sucked!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

48. Lucky me, I've only locked myself out of my car once.

It was decades ago and I was in the bad habit of pushing down the lock think and locking the car every time I got out. I stopped doing that the day I locked the keys in the car. I got in the habit of always using the key to lock.

Although what you did was different.

What I like about my new car, a Honda Fit, is that it's one of those "keyless" things, and it simply will not lock if the key is in the car.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

49. I want some of that 24F!

"I did a dumb thing today" -- I could say that every day.

[Historic NY]

51. Why I'm grateful for GM's on-star..

I can unlock it from my phone or as in your case I can call them with my code and they will do it. I've used this a few times.

[BobTheSubgenius]

52. Yes, you kinda lucked out.

Here, that service runs about $60. I hope it's a little gentler there.

[Karadeniz]

53. I've done that about four times and once I had a baby kitten inside a sweltering car. Turned out

Fine. With my current car, you can't lock your key inside. You can only lock the car from the outside and only with the key!

[Joinfortmill]

54. 👍

[MustLoveBeagles]

56. Don't feel bad

I got the car stuck in the snow trying to back out of the driveway. My husband and a neighbor had to dig the vehicle out. It made us late for our dogs vet appointment. Hubby was ribbing me about it all day.

[Whiskeytide]

57. Mine has a keyless entry pad ...

... on the door. Greatest automotive invention since the steering wheel.

[AncientOfDays]

58. My solution

My car uses a smart key (car can't be hot wired, theoretically). I had a regular key made that would open the door and keep it in my billfold. It won't start the car, but it will open doors and trunk.

[dflprincess]

59. That's what I liked about my '97 Civic

I had to use the key to lock the driver's door.

[R B Garr]

63. Here's my bizarre car key event. Weirdest thing ever.

I was leaving an upscale gardening center nearby snooty Newport Beach. I think it’s in Corona Del Mar, which is right next to Newport. It’s called Rogers Garden’s —- a spectacular place, filled with rich (not me) locals in their Bentleys, Jags, you name it. I’m only mentioning all that because of how ridiculous I looked when this happened in that type area.

So as I was leaving and walking to my car, I was holding something in my left arm, so reaching for my car keys with my right hand, I fumbled them and they dropped out of my hand and they landed on my foot as I was walking which then kicked them under my car almost right in the middle of the car! I was forced to get on my knees to try and reach under the car for them, and then had to look under the car and realized how close they were to the middle of the car.

I had to completely get flat on my stomach on the fairly hot asphalt to even have a chance of getting the keys. I was mortified with embarrassment. I kind of remember thinking fast as to how I could sweep the keys out from under the car, so I think I got something out of the trunk that extended my reach and I reached the keys with it and kicked the keys out.

But there I was rolling on the ground in this nice area. It didn’t go unnoticed. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone so I could work quickly, but people noticed. It was bizarre! If the ground had been any hotter, it would have been impossible.

[OAITW r.2.0]

69. Great story!

[leftyladyfrommo]

72. How did you open the trunk? nt

[R B Garr]

73. I usually open my car from a distance. It's a safety tip

I heard a long time ago for women —-don’t fumble for your keys by the car. But in the process, don’t kick them under your car, lol.

This happened about...10 years ago? Or so. I remember panicking and then thinking I had some options, mostly Triple AAA, but I knew I was embarrassed enough to make my actions as fast as I could at my age.

[leftyladyfrommo]

75. I would have just crawled under and then bowed to

the audiences.

[R B Garr]

77. I hear you. I don't think I could get all the way under.

I couldn’t reach them is what I remember. So I had to get something that would reach them to sweep them out. Or call for help, lol.

[cwydro]

64. I do grocery pickup at Walmart.

Order online, back into a slot, they load the car, and away I go.

Never even get out. This is all I do since this pandemic.

I highly recommend it.

[OAITW r.2.0]

65. Double mask and alcohol hand wash as I go in.

Need the exercise and social stimulation. Plus I am a stream of consciousness type buyer.

[cwydro]

74. I hear ya on that.

That’s the way I prefer to shop too.

I think pandemic shopping has actually saved me money though! I can’t get distracted lol.

[KentuckyWoman]

66. Spare key in your wallet.

If your truck uses the "fat key" that might not work.

When my husband was sick I got way too tired and got myself locked out twice. I put a key on a chain and wore it like a necklace. Get dressed. Put it on. Used it twice so it was worth it.

Plus it made the church ladies whisper. Added bonus.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

67. OAITW, consider carrying a spare entry key in your wallet....

just the thin flat old-fashioned type. It will fit in a wallet pocket and you'll hardly notice it. Put it in a little paper envelope so it's less likely to fall out.

Mine has saved my butt a couple of times. I started carrying one during my many years of traveling to job sites all over the U.S. and locked my keys in a car out in the sticks at a restaurant in PA after closing time. Not a pleasant memory.

Glad everything worked out for you....

[OAITW r.2.0]

70. My backup is flat, the primary has molded plastic.

I am going to get another duplicate and keep 1 in the wallet.

[Kali]

68. I never had that problem

when I drove a Nissan pickup with no driver's door

[leftyladyfrommo]

71. I always carry 2 sets of keys. One is clipped to my belt

Last edited Thu Feb 18, 2021, 06:32 AM - Edit history (1)

and I use the other set . I do that because I have locked myself out several times.

[womanofthehills]

80. I just did that 2 weeks ago at a gas station with my coat & purse in car

My electronic key stopped working 6 months ago. I closed the car door to put in gas and heard it click electronically. Luckily some guys at station got my keys out with a wire but it took about 30 minutes. Had a bunch of door keys made and I think I will wire one under car.

[Vinca]

81. That's exactly why I always have a spare key in my handbag.

Sounds like something I'd do.