When you are tipping the age scale on the high side of 60, the mind has a tendency to slip just a little. My husband and I bought a “used” car for our daughter. Well, a used car often has a few issues or else the other guy would still be driving it.
After about three days of roaming the car lots we found a sporty little car that we could afford. My husband wrangled the price down a few bucks and we brought the car home. We wanted to be sure that everything on it was in good working condition so we had it checked by our mechanic and my husband changed the oil, checked the tires and drove it a few times.
Now it was my turn to take it for a test drive. On the hottest day of the summer so far, I headed off to the grocery store for a watermelon. I went through the store and placed a few other items in my shopping cart. The little gal that bagged my groceries decided to skip pushing the shopping cart and carried my bags and the watermelon to the car.
We walked out to the hot parking lot to load the items in the car. When we got to my beautiful new “used” car, I attempted to open the door with my key, while she stood holding all the grocery bags and the watermelon.
I could not get the key to fit into the door lock. Well, we had new keys made, so I was apologizing to the her as she stood patiently waiting for me to get the car door unlocked. I tried the drivers door and the passenger door but the key would not fit. This nice little gal still holding the groceries and the watermelon suggested, that I should try the trunk. Nope!
Since I always carry my cell phone I called home for my husband to bring all the keys that we had duplicated and the original. We finally placed the groceries on the pavement next to the car and she headed back into the store, out of the blistering heat.
While waiting for my husband to arrive, I was still trying to get that darn key to fit. Along comes a big bearded guy asking me if I have a problem. While I’m telling him my story about the used car and new keys and blah, blah, here comes another guy to the rescue. A third guy was setting along side in his pick-up truck with the air conditioning on full blast offering his advice.
While I’m trying the key on the passenger door for the third time, another guy ambles up to the car toward the drivers side and gingerly opens the door. I could not believe it – I asked him “how did you do that?” He very politely said he used his key. Unbelievable, your key opened my car door? Now that is scary! I’m still amazed that his key would work, on my car. As I am starting to tell him my story, he interrupts me to say that this was his car, and I was using my key on his car. Then all five of us began to laugh!
It turns out the two cars were different models with the same body style and the exact same color. Both were recently purchased and had similar door dings and hailstone marks on the trunk lid, and were parked close together in the same aisle of the lot. We all had a good laugh and I had the pleasure of meeting a guy that had just returned from Iraq to find a dizzy blond trying to steal his new “used” car.
My husband and the dog arrived shortly after, and he now has a new story to share over coffee with his buddies at the farm store.
If you are looking for a date, this key fitting thing might work for you. However, I suggest looking for an expensive car to try it out on. A guy with a used car may not have much to offer.
