That was stupid !

Hot , cloudy and humid . Chattahoochee weather . The sort of day to head off to the air conditoned supermarket . Angus loads the shopping in the back of the car. Everything safely stowed, he slams the tail gate shut. The car then locks itself . Angus outside. The shopping inside . The keys hanging temptingly from the ignition . " Did you mean to do that ? " asks 'the font'.

Forty five minutes on the phone to various breakdown garages . '' I've locked myself out of the car ". Finally , one of them calls back to say they'll send someone over  . ' He'll be with you straight away ' . An hour later he arrives . An overly hirsute young man . He looks at the car, looks at Angus and then says ' That was a stupid thing to do ' .

An hour spent prising doors and windows open. The old Volkswagen proving to be the Fort Knox of the automotive world. The young man forces a small gap between the window and the door frame and  manages to pull the keys out of the ignition using a long piece of coated wire. He then drops the keys under the drivers seat. ' I can't reach them now '. Angus bites his lip . At this very minute the gendarmes arrive in a little Peugeot with flashing blue lights. '' Allo. Allo. What's going on here ? " .

Ten minutes of increasingly terse conversation while Angus explains that his identity documents are in the car. The gendarmes seem to view this answer with ' I've heard that line before ' suspicion. Finally, the mechanic and 'the font' convince them that yours truly is not trying to steal a battered old Volkswagen with white dog hairs embedded in the upholstery and a tell tale circular mark on the rear seat where a family pooch once had an ' accident '. Angus helpfully points out that if he was going to steal a car he'd choose the silver BMW parked in the next aisle over. ' The font ' gives him that ' stop talking while you're ahead ' look.  The police finally leave . The older of the two laughs and says " that was a really daft thing to do ". Angus bites his lip. 

After another thirty minutes,  the hairy mechanic manages to pick the lock. We pay him an extortionate  $200 and he goes . " You won't make that mistake again " he says using the tone of voice normally reserved for talking to a four year old who's just fallen off a bike. 

Home . Madame Bay says " you've been away for hours . Did you have a good time ? " . ' The font ' replies that Angus has made it a most interesting morning. No sign of the electricians .