I got into the wrong car today

[Spiderman]

@Ulf_the_Unwashed

Same make and model as my car. Same color, down to the same shade of blue. Probably the same year. But not my car.

The one I tried to get into was same make, same model, same color, same trim, & even the first 5 chara of the license plate were the same, which indicates same dealer on a car we only had for a week or two. Same row, too, just mine was 4 further down.

@nelliebly

My daughter and I were staying in a hotel one time. I left her in the room while I went to the car to grab a few things. Came back up and…

Years ago, maybe early cell phone days but before they were widespread if I even had one at all - We were doing an event in NYC. I somehow drew (double) long straw & got a hotel room to myself. We finish setup & go out to dinner around 8pm. The double long straw was not only was I the odd man to get the solo room but I also had a nice view of the East River where the other guys had a nice view of the next building < 10’ away, probably about 18" or 2’ away. We come back from dinner & they come up to check out my view. I put my key in & open the door & there’s someone sleeping in the bed! I quickly pull the door shut & state that I we’re at the wrong room when one of other guys states that my key shouldn’t be able to open any door but mine so we check the room # on the door; seems I am in the right room so we go down to the front desk because I think Goldilocks is in my room.
It turns out that one of the other guy’s girlfriend came up; to give them alone time for the night, his roommate got moved into my room but there was no way to get a hold of me to let me know. The final kicker was, because I had a two-bed room to myself, I had laid out my clothes & all my gear on the other bed so now I had to clean that all up before I could get into that bed.

[nelliebly]

At least you didn’t climb into bed and realize it was occupied!

[Spiderman]

the snoring kind of gave him away

[thorny_locust]

@CairoCarol

@Aspenglow

My stepmom once called the police because she believed her car had been stolen in a large mall parking lot. The police came and the car was located with no evidence of a break-in. To this day, she claims it was stolen and “returned.” Ummm.

I did something almost as ditzy once. There is a loop trail in the national park that I like to hike through, so I parked my car in the lot that is next to the trailhead, hiked the loop, emerged back into the lot, and … my car was not there where I had left it! I concluded it had been towed for some reason. The helpful tour bus driver who was nearby told me to call the park police, since they would have towed it.

The park police denied having towed a car with my license plate, but they checked their records and claimed it was indeed parked in the lot. After a bit of back and forth with them, it dawned on me that there are two nearly identical lots about a half mile apart, both abutting the loop trail, and that my car was most likely simply in the other lot.

Yeah, it was.

In the 1970’s, and in my 20’s, I spent most of a year driving around the country (USA). Sometimes I stayed with friends and occasionally I paid for a hotel, but mostly I slept in the car or put up a tent. One night I found a campsite late at night, set up the tent right next to my car, and went to sleep.

I woke up in the morning, still half asleep, and looked out of the tent – and my car wasn’t there! I leapt out of the tent shouting “What happened to my car?!”

A woman passing by gave me a very funny look and got out of there fairly fast without speaking.

My car was on the other side of my tent.

[JaneDoe42]

We were at a Starbucks and watched a woman come out with her coffee and dog and go right to a car in front of the door. She opened the back and the dog didn’t want to get in so she said sharp words, then closed the back and got into the driver’s seat…then got back out, got her smarter than her dog back out and went two cars down and successfully left. I’m pretty sure we were the only ones who noticed, but we were seriously entertained.

[Cervaise]

A year or so ago, there was a problem with my everyday car that required towing from a business lot. My insurance includes a loaner, so the tow truck picked up both me and my car, and dropped me off at the rental agency that would provide the temporary car.

I live in Luxembourg, and my German is mediocre and my French is nonexistent, so when something like this happens, I usually have to grit my teeth through it, unless I’m lucky enough to get a fluent English speaker.

Which, at the rental agency, I did. We went through the paperwork, he pointed at the car out the window, I took the key, and out I went.

I climb in the car, and for the life of me I can’t figure out how to start it. There’s no dash button; instead it’s the old-style key slot on the column for ignition. I have a key fob, and I assume it’s got one of those hidden keys that slides out, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to open it.

Eventually, one of the employees walks by, and notices me sitting in the car. He comes over and starts talking to me in very rapid French. I apologetically indicate I don’t understand. He nods, and then starts talking to me in very loud rapid French.

This progresses to even louder French, with various gestures, escalating in forcefulness and pointed emphasis. I still have no idea what he’s saying.

Eventually, he opens the passenger door, leans across, takes the key fob, and presses the lock toggle.

Whereupon the car next to me chirps and flashes its lights.

Not one of my better moments.

[CairoCarol]

@Cervaise

I apologetically indicate I don’t understand. He nods, and then starts talking to me in very loud rapid French.

That’s classic! If someone doesn’t understand you due to language barriers, the solution is obviously to speak louder.

My father (a monolingual English speaker) used to do that all the time after my parents moved to Mexico upon retirement. He was a sweetheart, and he tried to learn some Spanish. But it didn’t take. I never knew whether to laugh or cry, observing him talking to Spanish speakers. He’d speak 95% English, with 5% Spanish words thrown in, VERY LOUDLY.

It was about as effective as you would expect.

[don_t_ask]

Many years ago my mother returned to what she thought was our family station wagon in a huge parking lot, opened it , started up and headed off home. Soon after exiting the parking lot she glanced in the rear view mirror and thought, “Gee, those pot plants in the back are a hazard, blocking my view.” She then realized that she had no pot plants, and it was not our car and returned it to the parking lot without being able to find where she had taken it from. She located our car and headed home.

[bob_2]

When I was 18, I took lodgings in a small town in Wales, near to where I worked (for 3M as it happens).

The house I was staying in was one of a street full of identical houses that were mostly occupied by miners and their families. One morning, I left for work and when I got to the end of the street, I realised that I had forgotten something, so turned and ran back to the house.

The back door opened straight into the kitchen and as I ran in I saw two young women in nightdresses sitting at the kitchen table. Now, the family I lodged with had numerous friends and relatives who would drop in at any time for tea or a meal, so it was no surprise to see strangers at the table. I don’t know how long it took me to realise that I was in the wrong kitchen with two scantily-clad females, but I left, beetroot coloured, pretty sharpish.

By the time I got home from work, the tale was all down the street and I was the subject of a good deal of salacious banter for some time after.

[enipla]

Coming out of the beer store once, I saw two confused guys standing behind my grey 4Runner. I got closer and they where thinking all their ski gear got stolen.

I casually walked up put my beer in the car and thanked them for the 2 cases of beer they had just put in my car (with a smile).

I then pointed out that their car must be the grey 4Runner parked right next to mine.

[puzzlegal]

When my husband was a graduate student at Princeton, we lived in graduate student housing that was all made out of ticky-tacky and all looked just the same. We are at 218 King Street. The locks were really solid deadbolts that needed a key on each side, and it looked like a fire trap, so we never locked the doors when we were home, nor did most of our neighbors. Miraculously, we never walked into the wrong unit. But…

Once, a big drunk guy fumbled at the lock for a while, as we looked on kinda anxiously. He finally turned the knob and opened the door and saw us. He apologized profusely and went away.

Another time, a friend came to visit. He arrived slightly late and looked very sheepish. After he came in, he said, “the people at 218 Pine Street are very understanding.” It seems that he walked up to “our” unit and saw that we had put a flock of pink plastic flamingos on our little lawn. So he strode up to our front door, flung it open, stepped inside, and announced with a flourish, “the pink flamingos have GOT to go.” Then he realized he was looking at the faces of two strangers.

[Dung_Beetle]

Oh classic! I hope he then left without another word.

[kayaker]

@Aspenglow

My stepmom once called the police because she believed her car had been stolen in a large mall parking lot. The police came and the car was located with no evidence of a break-in. To this day, she claims it was stolen and “returned.” Ummm.

When I was in Florida for my son’s wedding, I had a rental car. After lunch and two beers I was going to go back to my motel room, but I couldn’t find my car. I walked around in the blazing heat, up and down aisles. Just as I was about to call the cops for a stolen car report, I went back to the restaurant. I went in, then exited via a different set of doors, where I found my car.

[Sooner]

Many years ago, when I travelled a great deal for business, I flew out on a Sunday evening to spend a week working with a customer. Overnight it snowed a few inches, so Monday morning I was out early scraping snow and ice off a ubiquitous white Dodge Intrepid rental car. Went to get in… and the key wouldn’t work, well that is odd.
Looked around a bit, and realized my ubiquitous white Dodge Intrepid rental car was two spaces further down.
Someone had a pleasant surprise that day.

[Spiderman]

@puzzlegal

Another time, a friend came to visit. He arrived slightly late and looked very sheepish. After he came in, he said, “the people at 218 Pine Street are very understanding.” It seems that he walked up to “our” unit and saw that we had put a flock of pink plastic flamingos on our little lawn. So he strode up to our front door, flung it open, stepped inside, and announced with a flourish, “the pink flamingos have GOT to go.” Then he realized he was looking at the faces of two strangers.

Many years ago my sister was in the hospital. Zany uncle went to visit her then went on a business trip. On his way home on Sat morning he decides to visit her again (& he’s previously been to her room); unbeknown to him, she had been discharged late Friday.

He walks into the room & the near bed (which had been hers) had a Black woman lying in it, clearly not my sister. The other bed had an Indian woman who was sitting up facing the window; from the back, her build & hairstyle were like my sister’s.

As he walks into the room he shouts, “Guess who!”
When she turns around he realizes it’s some random Indian woman who he doesn’t know. His response was, “Awww, you’ll never guess” as he turns & walks out. To this day, decades later, that poor woman still doesn’t know who.

[thorny_locust]

@Aspenglow

My stepmom once called the police because she believed her car had been stolen in a large mall parking lot. The police came and the car was located with no evidence of a break-in. To this day, she claims it was stolen and “returned.” Ummm.

@don_t_ask

Many years ago my mother returned to what she thought was our family station wagon in a huge parking lot, opened it , started up and headed off home. Soon after exiting the parking lot she glanced in the rear view mirror and thought, “Gee, those pot plants in the back are a hazard, blocking my view.” She then realized that she had no pot plants, and it was not our car and returned it to the parking lot without being able to find where she had taken it from.

@Aspenglow, did your stepmom have pot plants in the back?

[engineer_comp_geek]

About 20 years ago, we had the stereotypical cranberry colored Dodge Caravan (which had the stereotypical Caravan transmission issues at some point…). Mrs. Geek went to the store with the Geeklings, came out, put the groceries into the Caravan, then wondered why the key wouldn’t work in the ignition. Confused, Mrs. Geek looked around and saw McDonald’s wrappers on the floor, just like our Caravan, but some of the toys in the back weren’t our kid’s toys. One of the Geeklings finally piped up “Mommy, I don’t think this is our car.”

Completely embarrassed, Mrs. Geek quickly got the Geeklings and the groceries out of it and into our actual Caravan and drove home. She didn’t want me to even know about it because she was so embarrassed, but of course as soon as I got home one of the Geeklings immediately said “Mommy put us in the wrong car at the grocery store” as soon as I walked through the door.

[Yllaria]

@CairoCarol

That’s classic! If someone doesn’t understand you due to language barriers, the solution is obviously to speak louder.

Yes, but it’s supposed to be louder and slower. He got that part wrong.

[CairoCarol]

Nah, it’s (unintentionally) faster, as a result of agitation. Slower might actually help!

[control-z]

My parents used to have a brown Chevy Vega. Which is hilarious but that’s not important to the story. One day while leaving K-Mart my dad got in his brown Chevy Vega only to find a strange woman in the passenger seat. Not his Vega. He apologised and quickly got out to find his actual Chevy Vega, which contained my mom and I.