May 14, 2019 3 min read

I had just completed a very small random act of kindness and was trying to sneak away unnoticed. As I walked to my car, I dug into my purse for my keys, hoping to get in and drive away quietly. I couldn’t find them.

Instead, I spotted my keys in the cupholder of my locked vehicle. Knowing that my spare also happened to be in my console that day, I knew I was stuck. Laughing, I decided to go for a walk to give the other girl an opportunity to leave without running into me.

I have AAA, but knowing I was parked in a parking lot and would not be a priority call, I also decided that a walk would give me minute to think of a faster way home. Since I happened to be walking toward an auto parts store, I decided to pop in to see if they would be willing to try to jimmy my lock open for me. They agreed, and two of their associates followed me to my car, armed with a slim-jim type tool and prepared to give it a go.

For several minutes, the gentleman patiently worked to open my door. After what seemed like forever, he said that the manufacturer of my automobile had changed the setup of the locking mechanism to prevent break-ins and it might be impossible to open the door that way.

About the time they were going to give up, a man exited another business and said he thought he might have a tool in his vehicle that could help our endeavor. In short time, he returned with the whole kit and caboodle for popping open locked doors. A wedge of some kind to gently pry my door open, a blood pressure cuff-looking thingy to pump it open further, and a long metal stick to slide in the door and push the lock button open.

So picture it with me: I’m trying to subtly leave the parking lot unnoticed and instead, I have three men trying to break into my car for me. As if that wasn’t enough, the police then pull into the parking lot. I quickly turned to the guy with the metal bar shoved in my door and quipped, “I can prove this car is mine, but I can’t help you explain why you have that whole kit!”

Just at that moment, he was able to pop my lock and my car alarm went off. I rushed around to the open side of my car and shoved my keys into the ignition to silence it. The men from the parts store began to head back to work, rejecting my offer to pay for the tool they had used to assist me. The other man calmly folded his toolkit back up and walked toward the officer.

I waited a minute to see if proof of ownership was going to be requested, and when the officer looked my way, I asked if I was OK to leave. He smiled and waved at me, and I took it as a sign to make my getaway.

I left, laughing at how UNSUBTLE my departure had been. I honestly can’t say if or when the person I was avoiding left, but I’m sure that, at that point, they were avoiding me, too.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.