40. The Honda Guy

I recently went for a walk in the cemetery, as I often do. I had driven down there to save some time, and parked my car, and hopped out all while calling my sister so we could have a visit. I like to walk and have a visit with people. It’s one of my major Covid coping mechanisms.

So this day I had agreed to call my sister, and I was running late, and I popped out of the car and started my walk. It was a nice day, and a nice talk, and after a long walk I returned to my car to find I didn’t have my keys.

OMG! WTF? I have never in my 43 years of driving lost a single car key.

I did that thing where you keep looking in the same 4 places you have already looked, and they still aren’t there. Front pocket? Back pocket? Other font pocket? Other back pocket?

Damn! Still not there! Now what?

To make a long story even longer, Greg and I spent some time looking for those damn keys.  All over the cemetery and in the parking lot and in the Walgreens, and still no keys.

So what is the point of this story?

Well you probably know that car keys now cost close to $7000 because they have more technology than the first manned lunar module. And although I did have a spare, I was terrified of losing that one. So every time I drove anywhere I would check my pockets every 16 seconds to make sure they were still there. This is no way to live!

So I eventually gave in and called the dealership to make an appointment for the horrible 2-hour regime of reprogramming your car to a new key.

I was in a bad mood, because I didn’t feel like paying $7000 for a key, and I shouldn’t have lost it in the first place, and I didn’t feel like going to the dealership, and maybe I should just go look for the damn key one more time.

In other words, my mindset was un-good.

And then Ian the service rep answered the phone.  I told him I’d lost my car key and needed a new one. A sweet and lighthearted voice came back at me: “Oh man, we’ve all been there! That really sucks.”

He was so animated and sweet and sympathetic. And my bad mood lifted.

I was just one of millions of people who have lost a car key. And here was Ian to help me out, and we set up the appointment, and Greg gallantly went to the horrible 2-hour appointment and got me out of my jam.

Thanks Ian! For righting my ship on a crappy day.