The Man With The "Special Tools" Wins!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
I was a dork this morning. Long story short, I locked myself, my daughter and my dog out of the car. We were at the bus stop about four blocks from home, it was 7:20 a.m. We out of the car and I’d just shut my door – locked of course, when realized it was my watch I’d put in my pocket, not my keys. Uhhh-ohhh, kaboom, down went my heart. I peeked through the window and sure enough, my keys dangled from the ignition.
I looked across the top of the car to my daughter. “What?” she asked.
“I locked the car.”
“So?”
“So, the keys are inside it.”
“Way to go Mom,” wit an eye roll and that teenage stare. “Don’t you have a spare?”
“Yes”
“Where is it?”
“At home.”
“So what’s the problem? Geez, just run home and get it.”
“Can’t do that.” This time I got the narrowed eyes, “And why not?”
“The house is locked. The house key is with the car keys in the car.”
“So call the landlord and have her let you in.”
“Can’t do that ether .” Still narrow squinty eye glare, “And why not?”
“My phone is in my purse.”
“Let me guess . . . . . . . your purse is in the car,” sideways head jerk.
“Yup.” She rolled her eyes and gave me that “I can’t believe YOU’RE my Mother” look. The bus was slowly coming around the corner. She turned and saw t coming – last chance to ditch a day of school, “Maybe I should stay home with you today and make sure you don’t mess this one up,” she said.
“Uh, NO. You’re going to school.” Fine. And she went. And I was relieved. Last thing I needed was her nagging attitude on top of the current predicament.
I decided the only thing I could do at this point was to go home and pout on the patio till the landlord got in. By the time she’d arrived, I remembered I’d put the spare in my purse. Landlord suggested calling a locksmith. Good idea. You want how much?? They wanted a $100 bucks to do the job – all I had was $20. I pouted some more. Well, at least I should finish walking Ginger, a job half done is a job half done – with dogs that means you’ll back at it in half and hour anyway.
We headed out. She was happy, I was not. I noticed a maintenance man at the shed by the railroad tracks. "Good Morning,” he said, friendly smile and nod. I responded in kind. Then it hit me, he was a GUY! ALL guys know how to get into locked cars, its part of their DNA coding right? Wrong. He chuckled good naturedly as he burst my bubble and cleared up my misguided DNA thinking. “I do have an idea though,” he offered. He’d call his Sheriff friend. Sheriff’s are supposed to rescue damsels in distress right? Plus, he wouldn’t charge us anything. GREAT idea! The call was made but the friend was unavailable. Apparently the damsels timing for disaster was not in sink with the Sheriffs. Alright, plan B. He pulled out his wallet and waggled a AAA membership card in front of my face!!! Blessed, blessed Man! He made the call, and YEAAAHHH, rescue in 20 minutes! He walked with us back to the car. He looked inside, “Oh this’ll be a piece of cake, they’ll have this open in two minutes”. His confidence was comforting.
Fifteen minutes later the AAA truck rumbled to stop beside my car. The man jumped out, introductions made and the membership card confirmed. Then he walked around the car, looked through all the windows and said, “piece of cake, I'll have this open in less than five."
Twenty minutes later, after maximum effort, he gave up. His high tech tools and gadgets weren’t working. All AAA guys carry a “special go-to tool”, he said, “but mine broke a couple of days ago.” His co-worker would have one so he called him. Ten minutes later, AAA guy #2 arrived. Again introductions all around and then a detailed briefing one rescuer to another. I have to admit, their ‘tool talk’ was fascinating, like French being spoken in English! He looked at all three of us, then at the keys in the car and first thing out of his mouth, I kid you not, was, "Oh this'll be a piece of cake." It was agreed amongst the technicians that the “special tool” was indeed the tool for this job. Number 2 man, AAA man walked back to his truck, dug around in his tool box and returned with a long, thin, black zippered bag. Ahhhh, the “special tool”. He placed the bag on top of my car. The two techs exchanged knowing glances. There was a moment of reverence. Should we be praying I thought to myself? Number two man unzipped the bag. He carefully folded it open. OMG! Noooo freakin’ way! There, freshly exposed to daylight, lay a studiously arranged pile of, are you ready for this, COAT HANGERS! Yup! Seriously, the “special tool” was an assortment of old wired COAT HANGERS?! About a dozen of them. Each bent and twisted to specific angles. They looked like veterans of many a rescue mission. I couldn’t believe it. "Um, those are coat hangers boys". The look I got said, “NEVER say that to a AAA rescue guy.”
"No", he said firmly, then with a gentle sweep of his hand along the length of them and a genuine smile he said, “THESE, are the "special tools." The other guy was nodding agreement. “These can handle ANY job, they’ve never let us down.” I couldn’t help it, I had to smile. Alright then, I stepped back and let the masters do what they do.
Ten minutes and still no entry. Hmmm, better try another window. Another fifteen minutes, still no go. Better try another approach. Another fifteen minutes, and STILL no luck! Forty minutes and the "special tools" were failing. The AAA techs had beads of sweat and looks of dread upon their faces. Could it be? Could the “Special tools” actually fail them? The question hung in the air like smoke during a fireworks display.
They would NOT be unsuccessful in this endeavor. At this point, rocks crashing through windows entered the conversation. I began to fear for my car. Number One man suggested, as a last resort, using a special tool through the rubber strip at the triangle window up front. “Maybe, if we can reach it, we could trigger the ‘unlock’ button above the arm rest.” Really? Trigger the ‘unlock’ button? Number Two Man turned back to the pile of hangers. He carefully sorted through his options, comparing the angles of this one to that one and so forth. He held up one he thought would work. “This is the absolute last resort – and then its rocks Sweetheart.” He maneuvered the wire through the rubber, The other tech watching over his shoulder talking him through it. He reached the unlock button, he twisted the special tool just so and CLICK – WE WERE IN!!!!! Yesssssssss!!! Wheewww! Happy Dances all around! I was elated to get in my car. The AAA guys were relieved the SHINE was BACK on “The Tools”! I really sucks when the ultimate of anything disappoints – I get that. Their reputation – and the tools, was still in tact.
Good job, way to go Boys!! You were persistent and TRIUMPHED!!! Before the day was over, I had THREE duplicate keys made and dispersed them in places I’d be able to get to!! Now I’m going in search of “special tools” of my own. Never know when they may come in handy.
I was a dork this morning. Long story short, I locked myself, my daughter and my dog out of the car. We were at the bus stop about four blocks from home, it was 7:20 a.m. We out of the car and I’d just shut my door – locked of course, when realized it was my watch I’d put in my pocket, not my keys. Uhhh-ohhh, kaboom, down went my heart. I peeked through the window and sure enough, my keys dangled from the ignition.
I looked across the top of the car to my daughter. “What?” she asked.
“I locked the car.”
“So?”
“So, the keys are inside it.”
“Way to go Mom,” wit an eye roll and that teenage stare. “Don’t you have a spare?”
“Yes”
“Where is it?”
“At home.”
“So what’s the problem? Geez, just run home and get it.”
“Can’t do that.” This time I got the narrowed eyes, “And why not?”
“The house is locked. The house key is with the car keys in the car.”
“So call the landlord and have her let you in.”
“Can’t do that ether .” Still narrow squinty eye glare, “And why not?”
“My phone is in my purse.”
“Let me guess . . . . . . . your purse is in the car,” sideways head jerk.
“Yup.” She rolled her eyes and gave me that “I can’t believe YOU’RE my Mother” look. The bus was slowly coming around the corner. She turned and saw t coming – last chance to ditch a day of school, “Maybe I should stay home with you today and make sure you don’t mess this one up,” she said.
“Uh, NO. You’re going to school.” Fine. And she went. And I was relieved. Last thing I needed was her nagging attitude on top of the current predicament.
I decided the only thing I could do at this point was to go home and pout on the patio till the landlord got in. By the time she’d arrived, I remembered I’d put the spare in my purse. Landlord suggested calling a locksmith. Good idea. You want how much?? They wanted a $100 bucks to do the job – all I had was $20. I pouted some more. Well, at least I should finish walking Ginger, a job half done is a job half done – with dogs that means you’ll back at it in half and hour anyway.
We headed out. She was happy, I was not. I noticed a maintenance man at the shed by the railroad tracks. "Good Morning,” he said, friendly smile and nod. I responded in kind. Then it hit me, he was a GUY! ALL guys know how to get into locked cars, its part of their DNA coding right? Wrong. He chuckled good naturedly as he burst my bubble and cleared up my misguided DNA thinking. “I do have an idea though,” he offered. He’d call his Sheriff friend. Sheriff’s are supposed to rescue damsels in distress right? Plus, he wouldn’t charge us anything. GREAT idea! The call was made but the friend was unavailable. Apparently the damsels timing for disaster was not in sink with the Sheriffs. Alright, plan B. He pulled out his wallet and waggled a AAA membership card in front of my face!!! Blessed, blessed Man! He made the call, and YEAAAHHH, rescue in 20 minutes! He walked with us back to the car. He looked inside, “Oh this’ll be a piece of cake, they’ll have this open in two minutes”. His confidence was comforting.
Fifteen minutes later the AAA truck rumbled to stop beside my car. The man jumped out, introductions made and the membership card confirmed. Then he walked around the car, looked through all the windows and said, “piece of cake, I'll have this open in less than five."
Twenty minutes later, after maximum effort, he gave up. His high tech tools and gadgets weren’t working. All AAA guys carry a “special go-to tool”, he said, “but mine broke a couple of days ago.” His co-worker would have one so he called him. Ten minutes later, AAA guy #2 arrived. Again introductions all around and then a detailed briefing one rescuer to another. I have to admit, their ‘tool talk’ was fascinating, like French being spoken in English! He looked at all three of us, then at the keys in the car and first thing out of his mouth, I kid you not, was, "Oh this'll be a piece of cake." It was agreed amongst the technicians that the “special tool” was indeed the tool for this job. Number 2 man, AAA man walked back to his truck, dug around in his tool box and returned with a long, thin, black zippered bag. Ahhhh, the “special tool”. He placed the bag on top of my car. The two techs exchanged knowing glances. There was a moment of reverence. Should we be praying I thought to myself? Number two man unzipped the bag. He carefully folded it open. OMG! Noooo freakin’ way! There, freshly exposed to daylight, lay a studiously arranged pile of, are you ready for this, COAT HANGERS! Yup! Seriously, the “special tool” was an assortment of old wired COAT HANGERS?! About a dozen of them. Each bent and twisted to specific angles. They looked like veterans of many a rescue mission. I couldn’t believe it. "Um, those are coat hangers boys". The look I got said, “NEVER say that to a AAA rescue guy.”
"No", he said firmly, then with a gentle sweep of his hand along the length of them and a genuine smile he said, “THESE, are the "special tools." The other guy was nodding agreement. “These can handle ANY job, they’ve never let us down.” I couldn’t help it, I had to smile. Alright then, I stepped back and let the masters do what they do.
Ten minutes and still no entry. Hmmm, better try another window. Another fifteen minutes, still no go. Better try another approach. Another fifteen minutes, and STILL no luck! Forty minutes and the "special tools" were failing. The AAA techs had beads of sweat and looks of dread upon their faces. Could it be? Could the “Special tools” actually fail them? The question hung in the air like smoke during a fireworks display.
They would NOT be unsuccessful in this endeavor. At this point, rocks crashing through windows entered the conversation. I began to fear for my car. Number One man suggested, as a last resort, using a special tool through the rubber strip at the triangle window up front. “Maybe, if we can reach it, we could trigger the ‘unlock’ button above the arm rest.” Really? Trigger the ‘unlock’ button? Number Two Man turned back to the pile of hangers. He carefully sorted through his options, comparing the angles of this one to that one and so forth. He held up one he thought would work. “This is the absolute last resort – and then its rocks Sweetheart.” He maneuvered the wire through the rubber, The other tech watching over his shoulder talking him through it. He reached the unlock button, he twisted the special tool just so and CLICK – WE WERE IN!!!!! Yesssssssss!!! Wheewww! Happy Dances all around! I was elated to get in my car. The AAA guys were relieved the SHINE was BACK on “The Tools”! I really sucks when the ultimate of anything disappoints – I get that. Their reputation – and the tools, was still in tact.
Good job, way to go Boys!! You were persistent and TRIUMPHED!!! Before the day was over, I had THREE duplicate keys made and dispersed them in places I’d be able to get to!! Now I’m going in search of “special tools” of my own. Never know when they may come in handy.
