Hoping That Never Happens Again

Vacation story part six, and the final one, finds Norm and I on our way back home to Scottsdale.   We left early from my parents house and decided to fill up the gas tank before we hit the freeway.   We stopped at a gas station and Norm got out of the van to fill up the tank.   Before he got out of the car he asked me if I would like the window opened.   I said I didn’t because it was 50 ° out and I really did not want to get cold sitting in the car.   So he got out and shut the door and did what had to be done at the gas pump.   When he finished he went to open the driver’s door and discovered it was locked.   Unfortunately the keys were in the ignition.   It’s not unusual for Norm leave the keys in the ignition when he gets out of the car to get gas.   He’s done it many times and the door never locks.   But somehow he must’ve hit the lock mechanism when he shut the door.

Now at this point you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just reach for the keys or unlock my side of the car.   Well, I can’t.   I’m strapped in to my wheelchair, for safety, and I’m not strong enough to pull up on the car lock mechanism on the passenger side door.   There’s no way I can reach over and grab the key in the ignition.   I was stuck in a locked car with no way out.   Fortunately I didn’t panic.   I probably would have though had it been a really hot day.

Norm tried to find someone to help us, but no one could, so he called 911.   He explained to the dispatch operator that his wife was disabled and locked in the car and asked them to send someone to rescue me from our predicament.   A little while later a fire truck rolled up and three firefighters got out.   They used several different tools to try and unlock the driver’s door.   I think it took about 25 minutes before they finally got it open.   I wonder if car insurance companies have some sort of protection plan for something like this?   At least we didn’t get charged anything for the rescue.   They asked Norm a few questions and let us go on our way.   I was very thankful they got me out.