HUMOUR IS KEY TO LOCKSMITHING

As I was coming home from the library the other day, I saw a woman trying to get into a car parked on Grand Ave. It was bitter cold so I thought that I would do my boy-scout good deed for the day. I parked and went to see if I could help. She didn't appear to be a professional car thief and said the car was indeed hers. This job was easy. She already had a coat hanger. I got my pliers to make a hook on the end of the unraveled wire. The wire snagged the latch first try, and like magic, the door was opened.

This got me to thinking of the times I have locked my keys inside the car and of the stories that I have heard related to the subject.

My brother told me of the time he was paged from work. His wife had opened the car door and then the trunk. She put the groceries in the trunk and laid the keys in the base of the trunk as she arranged the bags. Down went the trunk lid with the keys inside. My brother was working on the roof of a factory in St. Catharines. He left the job and drove to Niagara Falls fuming all of the way. His wife was sitting in the car when he arrived, with the trunk lid up; she had remembered there was a trunk lid-latch in the glove box just before he arrived.

My son told me of the time he went to the "In / Out& store for a box of refreshments. As he stepped away from the truck he realized that it was cold without his coat. He went to retrieve it from the truck only to find he was locked out. It was a cold day as he jogged home to get his second set of keys. The truck sat in the parking lot with the engine running patiently, awaiting his return.

Manual Puim from Norms Key Shop told me of the time he was called to open a car for a woman at the mall. After 15 minutes with no luck he moved to the other side of the car. The window was completely down on that side. This made the job a lot easier. To ease her embarrassment he charged her half-price for the service call.

Another time he had to open the car door for the same woman twice in one day.

At 2 am he was called to Tim Horton's where a fellow was frustrated that he had lost his keys. Manual found them dangling from the trunk lock.

One fellow had four sets of keys made so that this would never happen to him. Unfortunately on the day he left the keys in the ignition, he also left a set in the glove box, and a set in his jacket pocket; also in the car. His wife in turn had left a set in her purse; also in the car.

He also chuckles over the time that he easily opened the car latch of a car with a dog inside. The dog insisted on pushing the latch back down every time he pulled it up.

I cannot verify this story but apparently a gentleman called a lock smith as he also had the misfortune to leave the keys in the ignition. The locksmith came and within one minute had the door open. He said "that will be twenty-five bucks please." The man was furious and said "I won't pay twenty-five dollars for one @#%$ minute's work." The locksmith threw the keys back on the seat, locked the door and said "that will be thirty bucks if you want them again."

I will not tell the next story because I am sure you have heard it. A fellow called the locksmith to retrieve his keys from his locked car. He said "Please hurry, it is starting to rain and I have the top down."

Have a nice day.