Question about that random stranger who gave me a key in 2011

Back in Seattle I locked myself out of my car at a gas station off I-5 and this older guy in a truck handed me his spare key, said "try this, it might fit." It actually opened my door, and I never got his name. Has anyone else had a total stranger solve a problem with something that should never have worked?

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graydavis17d ago

I was just reading something last week about how car locks back then were way less picky than people think. Some manufacturer in the 90s actually got sued because their keys were so simple that a few basic patterns could open a huge number of cars. So that guy probably had a key that just happened to match your lock, which is wild but not as rare as you'd hope. It's a good thing he was a decent person, because that same trick could've been used for way worse stuff. I've heard stories of tow truck drivers carrying a ring of old keys just for this reason, it's practically an old trick of the trade. You got lucky, but so did he, since you didn't call the cops on him for trying your door.