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A small thought spurred by a recent conversation.
I remember the last time I locked myself out of my car. It was in Kansas City, spring of 1992. I was doing some consulting work for US Sprint, back in its heyday. We were automating the call routing configuration system for the network of Tandem computers that controlled their switches, and I was in charge of the team handling the network transport portion of the project.
I'd just parked on the top floor of one of their parking structures, stepped out of the car, and decided that it was too warm for me to wear the light jacket I had on. So I tossed it onto the passenger seat, hit the door lock and closed the door -- and then realized that I'd put my keys into my jacket pocket.
I don't remember how I got the car, a well-used Toyota Tercel, unlocked. Probably called a locksmith while I was working.
I don't recall any other instance of locking myself out of a vehicle. I follow a simple rule of never setting keys down inside the vehicle: they're always either in the ignition switch or in my hand. (Now, of course, the key remains in my pocket, since I drive a car built in the 21st century and it somehow just knows the key is nearby.)
What always amazes me is that women aren't continually being locked out of things, given that one of the many burdens of womanhood is a dearth of pockets. There was a time when I thought being able to carry a purse was pretty great: I imagined all the tools and guns and other useful things one could always have at hand. Not that I'd ever entertain the idea, of course: man purses are gay. (Like most men, on those rare occasions when I'm asked to fetch a purse for someone, I carry it with the this-isn't-my-purse-and-I-really-don't-know-how-one-even-holds-this-thing-so-I'm-going-to-carry-it-in-front-of-me-like-a-bag-of-overripe-fruit-I'm-taking-outdoors grip, just so there's no mistake.)
But women seem to be carrying purses with increasingly less frequency (or, for minimalists: with decreasing frequency) and, given the continuing absence of pockets, that has to translate into a concomitant increase in the rate of misplacement of small things: pocket knives, little flashlights, USB memory sticks, small revolvers -- all the things we men normally carry in our pockets.
Just one more reason I'm thankful I'm a man.
Discussion (50)
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I was in a convenience store yesterday when a woman came in and said she had locked her keys in her car. She called AAA to come help her out. Several of us offered to help but she said AAA would be there in a few minutes but thanks. I assume everything turned out fine.
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Years ago I was dating a divorced guy with 2 daughters, 6 and 8. He had to work on one of "his" Saturdays, so I volunteered to take them to a movie in the afternoon. At that point, I had no idea how distracting small kids can be.
We got to the theater and I managed to lock my keys in the car with the engine running. Fortunately, I had my purse. I settled them into their seats with the firm instruction not to move until I got back. I went back out and called AAA from a payphone because at that time I had a car phone, not a personal one.
AAA came, the car was unlocked, and I got back into the theater in time for the last 5 minutes of the movie. When we were back and they told the whole "funny" story to their father, he just looked at me and said, "Yeah, kids are a bear aren't they."
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For men, a backpack or a briefcase functions well as a man purse. So will a fishing vest with lots of pockets.
When my daughter was six and younger, she would always want me to take her to the local mall. Naturally, she would carry a purse packed to the gills with heavy stuff. Naturally, she would get tired of carrying her purse, and want Dad to carry it. I got lots of satirical compliments on my purses, particularly the sparkly Hello Kitty purse.
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I once drove to get a haircut, and locked the keys in the car - in the ignition, with the engine running. Fortunately, no one wants to steal a Ford Pinto.
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It's a problem. Drives me nuts because I hate carrying a purse. And even if I have pockets, sometimes they are so shallow they may as well be nonexistent.
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