Hand over the keys, Grandma!

Last month, when it was time for our Vancouver vacation, we drove to Dallas on Thursday night even though our flight out wasn't until Friday evening. We just wanted to make sure we didn't run into any travel snags...traffic, wrecks, the normal chaos that is the metroplex...you know, the usual stuff.

Friday morning I decided I would hop in my sisters car and run right across the street to grab some bagels for breakfast. I would have driven my own vehicle but the little clicker to get back into her apartment complex was in her car, so decision made. My sister bought a brand new Honda Fit almost two years ago, that thing is pretty zippy compared to my Explorer that was new in 2004. And I zipped right on over to Einstein Bagels, zipped right into a parking spot and....couldn't get the keys out of the ignition.

I turned the key this way and that way. I pushed the key in while twisting this way and that way. Nothing.

I tried re-adjusting the wheels, sometimes that helps. Nothing.

What was I going to do? I couldn't just run in real fast and leave the keys in the ignition. That might fly here at home, but not up there..I don't care how nice my sister's neighborhood is. But I knew....KNEW....that if I drove back over to my sister's apartment (its within walking distance..and I was thinking that would have been a better decision at this point) that I would park and that stupid key would come right out of the ignition.

So I sat there for a minute to think. I CAN FIGURE THIS OUT! It's a new car. There must be some new fangled way to get the key out of the ignition. What do I have to do? Hum a little tune, touch my nose with my pinky, tilt my head slightly to the left, and twist the key five degrees to the right?  I open the glove box and pull out the owners manual. That's right, I'm a woman..I read directions if I can't figure something out. I flipped through the pages and scanned for the 'How to use your car key for dummies' section. And as I read the book that was sitting in my lap I happened to glance over and notice that the car was not in park.

I had been sitting with the car in reverse for the last five minutes.

The manual does say the car must be in park to remove the key from the ignition. Who knew?