Poor Keys

Keys. You don't realize how much you depend on them until you cannot find them.

Thursday night, Mike and I went out together. When we go in the car, Mike drives because he cannot stand sitting in the passenger seat with it so far forward (due to the car seat.) We got home and decided to go on a walk, so we got the stroller out got the puppies and took about an hour to walk around the little block by our house. That is what happens when you see neighbors and friends and stop to talk. It was enjoyable.

Mike got put on graveyard for Friday, so Friday morning, he was home. He hates driving the car, so I thought, "I will get the car seat out and leave the truck for him." Only problem? No keys. I looked all over the counter, unfortunately, it isn't spotless to make the looking easier. I looked on the key rack, where they should have been placed. I went outside, discovered the car was unlocked and looked in the ignition, around the driver's seat, around the car seat, in the stroller. No keys. I looked on the porch.

I went into the house, woke Mike up, "Where are the keys?" I got the shoulder shrug. When you wake him up, Mike is not too alert. I went back on the search. By this time, instead of having 10 minutes to leave, I now had about a minute. I go back out, look around inside the car again. Back inside, looking around. By this time, Mike was up and looking in his pants pockets. No luck. No keys. Mike took the spare key off his keys and gave it to me. I said goodbye and ran out the door, grabbed the car seat so Mike would have it, and was off.

I drive down my road, turn onto a busier road. Drive to the freeway. I get on the freeway at 8th North. I pass Center St. I am in the far left lane, I happen to look in the rear view mirror just in time to see my keys flying off the top of the car. I am pretty sure I swore. I debated for a second (maybe two.) I pulled off onto the shoulder, got out and ran back. I was hoping that because they fell off on the left side, and I was in the left lane, they would be on the shoulder (or fairly close.) No. Such. Luck. Stupid Keys. They were in the second lane over. I looked at them. I am sure they looked at me. I racked my brain to try to remember everything I had on those keys. Our keyless entry (which was no longer part of the keys. I am sure it was smashed to smitherines.) Our house key. Our garage key. Our back door key. My fingernail clippers. (really, they have to be part of every key chain I carry around.) My key ring I got when I graduated, the cool one that said 09 and spun around. E loved that key ring. It could entertain him for minutes.

I looked down the freeway, trying to see if there was a break in the traffic. There wasn't. Too many cars. Going too fast. I am pretty sure I stood there for 2-3 minutes debating. Should I try to get them? There was a slight bend that would make it more difficult for cars to see me. It wasn't worth it. I couldn't value those stupid keys more than my life. I called Mike and let him know I found the keys and where they were. Because of the traffic, I couldn't hear him and said goodbye.

I ran back to my car. I called Mike and let him know I was leaving. Mike was a bit incredulous that I left them there. I reminded him it was the freeway. I wasn't about to run onto the freeway to get them. He was then incredulous (and a bit upset) that I hadn't looked on the roof of the car for the keys in my search. I reminded him that people don't generally put their keys on the roof of the car. (I should remember that Mike has a tendency to put things on the roof of the car. We have found his phone there, and the keys for another vehicle before. Hopefully, that habit will now stop.)

It is debatable about who lost the keys. Mike maintains I did because I was driving the car when they flew off the roof. I maintain he did, because he was the last one to touch them, and if they hadn't been "lost" in the first place, I would have been using them to drive the car and wouldn't have had the opportunity to fly off the roof. I think I am using my persuasive arguments to bring him around to my way of thinking. At least, he has started to reply that he isn't the last one to touch them, the freeway was.

We drove by the area again at 6 PM during rush hour, stop. and. go. We thought, maybe we will see them again and because traffic is moving so slowly, we could just reach out and grab them. No. Such. Luck. They were gone. We don't know if they have just been smashed to smitherines by this point, or if somebody working on the freeway saw them and picked them up. Maybe the highway patrol picked them up? Maybe another motorist saw them in the stop and go traffic, got curious and picked them up. Regardless, they were gone. My poor keys. I hope they enjoy their new home, wherever it may be. (hopefully smashed to bits on the side of the freeway so somebody doesn't have a cool set of keys they found, that happen to belong to my car and home.)