A Wild Car Story (part 1)

So here's a life lesson for you: cars are smarter than you think they are and getting smarter by the year. When your rental car tells you that the keyless entry system needs to be serviced, you better call the rental company ASAP...otherwise, you might end up stranded in a parking lot talking to Emergency Roadside Service for a few hours.

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The day started so inauspiciously: Brit-Brit spilled milk on her skirt. "This will be a strange day," she warned me. "I never spill things in the morning."

The omen seemed unfulfilled as the day passed. The rental car notified us that the keyless system needed servicing, but the notification disappeared within minutes. The convention went well, despite standing on the concrete floors for 11 hours, and we felt that all-in-all, it had been quite the successful day. Now, to find dinner and rest our weary legs at the hotel that evening.

We marveled at the throngs of people arriving for the Riverfest—this was a population vastly different than the families we had interacted with all day. On the brief walk to the car, we noted how the weather was quite nice: a bit warm, yet not nearly as humid as Virginia. We discussed where to find dinner: downtown Wichita? Or takeout?

Our thoughts of an easy evening were interrupted when the car wouldn’t unlock via the keyless remote. A bit perturbed, we finagled the physical key out of the remote and opened the car.

It refused to power on. In fact, the car was so locked down that the radio wouldn't even play as we sat there, attempting to find a keyhole where we could manually start the car. For goodness' sake, who would invent a keyless car with a 'push to start' button without a manual backup? "That person isn't making my 'smart list' right now," Brit-Brit quipped.

We called the rental company: "Yes, hello, our car won't start."

"Ok, we'll send a tow truck. It will take 30-60 minutes."

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The car was rather warm, and we were fairly hungry, so we manually locked it and wandered toward downtown Wichita, waiting for the 'rescue call.' Finding Wichita a rather deserted city, growing hungrier by the minute, and wishing we'd stopped at the ladies' room before leaving the convention center, we finally spotted a Quizno's on the next corner. Subs? Sure, it's better than nothing.

Except, Quizno's refused us entrance. "We can't let any more people in," they claimed. "Not even to use the bathroom?" we queried. "No, we're sorry."

Puzzled, since there were several empty tables, we wandered back to the convention center, laughing at the irony of our quandary: what else could happen tonight??