When I was seven or eight years old, my friend’s mom drove us somewhere. I don’t remember where; what I do remember was that I had a nice book, because of course I did, and when we stopped to do groceries, I stayed in the car and kept reading.
I was engrossed in the adventure when suddenly, the doors unlocked and I jumped in surprise. I looked all around me and the friend’s mom wasn’t there. Neither was the friend. I couldn’t see anyone.
What was going on? Was someone stealing the car, not realizing I was inside? My head swam with images of a cloaked thief, crouching to avoid detection, lockpicking the doors and leaving with the stolen car. Then, they’d finally notice the child in the backseat and, of course, they would murder me, because you never want witnesses to your crimes.
A few seconds later, the mom showed up, son in tow. When she saw my face of pure confusion and terror, she burst out laughing and explained what had happened.
And that’s how I discovered the existence of remote car keys.
That car also had windows that you could open with a button instead of a crank. That was pretty cool.