quote:

Originally posted by brecaidra:
I have some old tie clips with a part that slides out and can be cut to match a car key. Pretty clever, but do men still wear tie clips? These are from the 50s.

They are apparently making a comeback

We are apparently one of the few departments that still opens them for free. With the right tools, it's really not that hard, most of the time. Some of the newer cars use chintzy plastic around the edges of the doors that will shatter if you try to wedge them, or have metal blocks under the window to defeat the slim jim. There have been a few where I've told people they need to have someone bring their other key or call a locksmith, but that doesn't happen often.

My favorite story was this female who called in for a lockout. We were all busy on other calls that had a higher priority, so it took us 30-45 minutes to respond. I got there, and she was sitting in her car. Confused, I asked her if she still needed our assistance. She informed me the key was locked in her trunk. I reached down by the dash and pushed the trunk release button .

When my son was two years old, my son locked himself in our car while it was in our driveway. We didn't have any luck in getting him to hit the unlock button. My wife called the police and within a few minutes, two police cars and a fire engine were at our house. The police officers worked on one side and the firemen worked on the other. It was now a competition. They weren't worried about my son because it was a cool fall day and he was playing in the car.

The next lockout occurred at Sonoma Raceway on a Saturday evening after my brother and I finished a day of riding school. I was exhausted and wanted to go to the hotel. My brother wanted to show me that his trunk won't lock if the keys are inside. He threw the keys in and shut the trunk. You guessed it. It locked.