I am very happy I own a car that will not let me lock it when the keys are inside of it. 

It not only refuses to lock.  It beeps at me…thrice!

Color me lucky I guess, but I can recall only three times in my life, with previous cars, when that feature would have been handy.

The first time, the keys were not only locked inside, the engine was running.  And no break-in-artist/car-thief in sight!  Fortunately my wife was home and she drove to me with a spare key.

The second time it happened, she wasn’t home.  But I fortunately had my bike with me and it was unlocked on the carrier.  By the time I pedaled home, she had returned so she gave me a ride back to my car with the spare key. 

The third time was also “convenient,” if I’m allowed to use that word for these instances.  I was up in CT and had organized a paddle on the Farmington River,  not far from my daughter’s house.  I’d unloaded the boat and equipment.

The instant I closed the car door I realized the key was still in it.  After a moment of panic, and some thoughts about just cancelling the event, a calm settled over me.  I have what I need to float the river for a few hours, I thought,  and my daughter lives close.  I called her up and arranged for her to bring the spare and leave it on top of a rear tire. And I set off on the water with my friends.

I’ve owned my present car for five years now and have had more than three instances already when this feature has saved me some bother.  I think the increase in frequency is because I’ve taken to using a man-purse to carry wallet and keys instead of carrying things in my pockets. 

And in these days of car fobs, not a key that one needs to hold in one’s hand at some time during the turning-it-off, exiting-the-car process, I am very lucky indeed that it has this feature.

Getting scolded by three shrill beeps once in a while sure beats having a spare fob surgically implanted in my body, I guess.