A fool and his keys are soon parted

Sometimes in an instant of inattention, everything can change. While driving back to Pittsburgh last Sunday evening after a weekend excursion to the Washington, D.C., area to visit my older son and his wife, my 16-year-old son, Ben, and I were suddenly transformed from comfortable, confident motorists into disenfranchised castaways. Or so it seemed at the time. We had hit the road home about 7:30 p.m. after joyfully watching the Steelers polish off the New York Jets. Although the forecast predicted deteriorating conditions, the weather was cold but clear as we set out on the four-hour drive. With no traffic to speak of, we made good time on I-270 for about an hour. Just short of Frederick, Md., I decided to stop to refuel ourselves and the car. We found the food we were looking for at a Roy Rogers restaurant, and after dining, I pulled up to the pump at the Lowest Price gas station just at the entrance to the highway. I got out of the car to fill the tank while Ben waited inside the car, listening to the CD. The tank filled, I went into the gas station's tiny storefront to pay and buy some chewing gum. Ben wandered in, added a candy bar to the bill and headed back out to the car. While I was waiting for the credit card transaction to be completed, Ben went back out to the car. It wasn't until I saw him walking around the car checking the doors that I had an inkling that something was wrong. We had just entered the Twilight Zone. To shorten a sad tale, we quickly realized that when he'd gotten out of the car, Ben had reflexively hit the power lock before closing the passenger-side door. Our only set of keys hung from the ignition. As we were suddenly stranded at the lonely gas station on the outskirts of Frederick, our planned schedule was very much in doubt. There we were with only the clothes on our backs and fortunately, the wallet in my pocket. Everything else, including the cell phone we'd brought for emergencies, was locked safely inside. At first, I tried to figure our how I could get into the car, a year-old Volkswagen Passat, but I quickly realized my limited options, especially without tools. Although sympathetic to our plight, the gas station attendant had no way to help. At that hour on Sunday night, there was no chance of finding a open garage or dealership to help. I went back out to the car and for a brief moment contemplated the rock-through-the-side-window approach, but apart from not wanting to do any damage, I realized how inclement the three-hour drive back to Pittsburgh would be. About the time that I began to wish that I'd invested in an On-Star system, I remembered the AAA card in my wallet. The gas station attendant let me use his phone, and I called the emergency 800 number on the back of the card. The AAA service representative who took my call was helpfully efficient, listening to my predicament and taking down the information necessary to dispatch a repair truck. "Someone will be there in the next hour and a half," he assured me. That was some consolation, especially as the gas station would be closing in an hour. I went back out and began ragging Ben for getting us in this situation, but went easy because I also felt somewhat responsible for not having taken the keys with me in the first place. No matter where the blame lay, there seemed to be little chance we'd make it home before midnight. But not five minutes went by before the gas station phone rang. It was the local AAA-designated service provider, explaining a repair truck was on a call in the shopping mall down the road and would be right over. Five minutes after that, the big wrecker pulled into the gas station lot. A smiling elf jumped out of the wrecker and came over to assess our situation. From behind the back seat of his truck, he pulled out a black canvas bag about the size of a pool cue case. It was labeled "Door Tools." First he tried to slide a flat metal bar into the crease between the driver's side door and window and fished around for a few moments but was unable to snag the release inside the door. "There is another technique," he said. "I've used it to open a lot of cars without harming them, even a Jaguar." I told him to go for it. Fetching another set of tools from his truck, he inserted a tiny, padded wedge in the crack between the two doors just where they met the roof line. Carefully, he widened the opening a bit more, until he was able to slip a small, flat sack into the space between the door and the frame. Then, pumping the black rubber bulb attached to it, he inflated the sack until it created maybe a half-inch gap between the door and the frame. Next he inserted a metal rod with a small hook on the end into the gap and used it to press the electronic lock on the door by the driver's left hand. As pretty as you please, all four doors clicked open. Within another minute, Ben and I were exiting the Twilight Zone. The rest of the trip was a breeze. So here are two important lessons to keep in mind when you set out on your holiday drives, or for that matter any other time of the year. First, always take your keys with you when you get out of the car. It's the only certain way to ensure that some quirk of circumstance won't leave you locked out. Second, get a AAA membership and keep it current. In addition to all the other travel benefits membership entitles you, you'll have someone to turn to for help should you ever find yourself in a situation in which everything changes in an instant. That little card can be a life-saver.
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