Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 01, 2013

How surprising! I didn’t realize that Bernice could be careless. I guess that we misjudge persons on occasion.

Oh NO, Bernice.

DRIVE OFF Without Paying so we can TEST the “Response Time” of the Local Po-Po!

Maybe Dirk works at that gas station, and he pushes them home to Pittsville.

Wonder if after dissing her yesterday, they’ll have to call Luann for help?

Who didn’t see that coming?

I sure hope that the windows are down but I think not- .Hope the girls have their cell phones handy so Luann can come save the day and join them…….you know, this is a common occurrence-happened to me once, long time ago.

If I open the door with my key still in the ignition, I get beeped at. Surely Bernice’s car isn’t so old as to not have that safety feature!

Delta just locked the doors in panel 3.

done this SO many times.

Truly smart people carry the extra key in their other pocket…

Do be careful about loading you key ring with keys! The extra weight will eventually mess up the ignition switch!

…And this is why i lock my doors with my keys. I learned maybe about the same age as these girls that it was a better idea, but thankfully it wasn’t the hard way. I had the fortune of having a car (1985 Toyota Supra) that would not allow the doors to lock that way – and remain locked – if the key was in the ignition.

Yep, I’ve gotten trapped in another city for over a day because the spare key was on the other side of a snowed over highway. I’ve learned to keep the other key with me at all times. Good thing too because I did just this thing not two weeks ago because I became distracted and didn’t perform my “keys are in my hand when I step out of vehicle” ritual habit. IQ of 135 and I’m still absent-minded.

I long carried a spare car key in my wallet… it saved my bacon countless times – this was before the the days of smart start fobs, which won’t allow the car to lock if the key is inside the vehicle.

My wife and I learned to make that one of the things we think about, like a mini checklist, before we close the door…. now it’s an ingrained habit to check for house keys and ID before leaving, and car keys before we shut the car door, even if it’s just in front of our home….

The only thing worse is everyone assuming everyone else is locking the doors before you go on a hike, only to return to find your purses have been swiped, then going to the sheriff’s office to find over $2,000 already has been run up on your credit cards.

If one of them has a cell phone not locked in the car they can call a lock-smith or pop-a-lock or something similar. The fuel station will have a phone for that matter. Don’t have to call Luann.

Of course having some come and unlock the car will cost at least $50.00 .

Time to call the tow truck.

I have a friend (blond female) who called me in tears saying her battery in her clicker was dead and she couldn’t get into her car. I said to look next to the clicker on her KEYS for the key that had her car logo on it… AND USE IT TO OPEN THE DOOR!!! Five years of owning that car and she had never used the key.

I remember a real life story when the mother who was sleeping in back of the van got out to go to the bathroom with no shoes or purse. The husband and kids drove off thinking she was in back. The police tried to help. She somehow caught a flight to get home three states away.

The moral of this weeks strip is they don’t need Luann to have drama in their life. These two are always thinking they are so much smarter and superior to Luann yet they are just as human as she is and gasp make mistakes too.

A brick fixes it.

My car beeps at me if I open the car door with the keys in the ignition – and it continues beeping at me until I remove the keys. And my car is OVER ten years old!

(re Panel 1) Is finding a gas station on the road really something to celebrate?

Why call Luann? + to have AAA Don’t you have to be in CA. or NV.?? I thought Luann’s family was on the East Coast?

I always keep a 2nd. set in my pocket for just that Emergency. & I have AAA. :)

Hang on a sec.. Delta is on the passenger side. She can’t lock all the doors on that side. Only Bernice can if she has that feature in the car. So, Her side should not be locked. We didn’t see B. lock the door.

That’s why I also have a small key ring with my second key.Also my car has the number pad access on the driver’s door too.

hope you have a slim jim to unlock. also, maybe the police can help.

Not sure what kinda car she’s driving but on mine the passenger door can’t lock ALL the doors. Just the drivers side can. Plus if I open my car door with key in the ignition a bell keeps dinging to remind me to take the key out. Car manufacturers try to think ahead to what we ‘might’ do & try to prevent it from happening.

Oops and you know 99.9% of women do NOT have a spare key.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Car I’d rented specifically to travel out of state to bring home my new Pekingese puppy because the car had A/C when mine didn’t; it was the heat of a Southern summer. AAA to the rescue!

That’s Karma replying to their trash talk about Luann.

I had a car that locked itself if you left it running for air conditioning….having your car lock you out really tightens your jaw muscles.

anybody else notice how irrelevant these two’s story arcs are? First…unless she has a car that is older than mid 90’s (possibly older for Honda) if the key is in the ignition, the driver’s door will never lock, even if the lock is manually set, once the door is closed it automatically unlocks itself…

I’m starting to think Mr. Evans pool of ideas is starting, or has dried out…that’s what happens when you have half the characters actually grow up and the other half stuck in “teen life”…

He should just get back to the main character arcs and leave these two where they belong…as background support.

Locked doors – looks like LuAnn will be good enough to be called to the rescue now.

Cars beep at you for so many things these days that you get to ignore it. So a warning beep for leaving the keys in the car just doesnt register.

I always take my key out of the ignition or roll down the window when I gas up. You never know when the car will decide to lock itself. Every car I have had in the past twenty years has on occasion decided to lock itself even though I always turn off the automatic locking itself option.

Meanwhile….BRAD AND TONI ARE GETTING MARRIED!

Oh Jeeze.. Wonder if they have their cell phones with them and can call OnStar if the car has that feature??

And is the cell phone still in the car?

Now they are going to have to call Luann and she’s not going to be happy they went without them

I have a hard time believing this has never happened at this gas station before. The attendant will have a number to call if it happens.

My 2003 Dodge Caravan will not lock if the keys are in the ignition, but it will if they’re in the CAR. Been there, done that. And you can lock ALL the doors from the passenger side – I do it every day.

In my 8 year old car, if I use the powerlock to lock all doors while the key is still in the ignition the lock simply springs open again. Also I have to use the powerlock switch, not the door switch, if I want to lock all doors from the passenger side.

It’s not Bernice this time. That is Delta’s hand locking the door.

Who ever takes out the keys to fill the tank, unless you have a locking gas cap?!

ack… $115 for a local “key smith” to open the door. or mom has to drive out with the spare… if you have a spare…

Why in h&\\ would Delta lock the doors like that? It doesn’t make any sense!And why didn’t Bernice take the keys out of the ignition? That’s something you do whenever you turn of the engine, and especially before you exit the car!As for cell phones, those are probably in their purses / pocketbooks / sandbags or whatever, and locked inside.Looks like this will be a long week.

I had to call the CAA twice for this kind of thing.Now I carry two car keys, one in each pocket. Haven’t locked them both inside yet. ;)

My car & truck will not lock if the keys are in the ignition in the off position.

Ok, still no big deal. Get a coat hanger and a wooden doorstop. Learned how to do that when I left my keys in my car

I know, I know… it’s just a comic…1) I have never known anyone who ever left their keys in the ignition (I am not young!).2) What parents would allow their teens to drive without some sort of roadside assistance? It comes free with most insurance policies. So, there will be no problem, just call them to come unlock the door. I know, I know…. it’s just a comic, so it will go on for a week with hilarious misadventures.(Of course, I can’t pump my own gas here in Oregon, it’s against the law, so that never would happen anyway!)

Bernice is organized…hopefully she will have a spare key in her wallet. Or, just ask a local thug to unlock the door for you, or the police can use a slim jim…no problem they should be able to figure this out, unless it is an abandoned gas station.

Not to sound ominous, but I think there’s way more “iceberg” to follow after this small “tip”…. some problems roam in packs, and some problems like to show up and complicate others….

Uh oh!

Responsible parents would make sure their teenage daughter has AAA before allowing her to take a road trip.

Uh, I was answering a question someone asked, and there IS relief when they said: “we’re good”… the hyperbole I spoke of (cartwheels) was to generally show that sometimes the smallest things can make us feel better, and NOT EVERYTHING has to be linear and spelled out in a comic strip, fictional story, etc… but again, I was just answering a question….

Um… on my car the “lock all doors” button is NOT on the passenger side door. Nor should it be. The one who controls the keys should control the locks.

and furthermore, I maintain and submit that when you’re on a long trip or on an otherwise unfamiliar road, a gas station or a rest area is a welcome thing at the time….it’s funny what we can take for granted, or look at as just some “regular old thing/ ordinary thing”….and, again, I was just explaining the possibility of this in answering a question….

Don’t be too hard on her. She was careful enough to think of security—in fact that is ingrained in her—but you can see why her mind was elsewhere when she did this. I was on Beacon Hill in Boston once, when a man much too young for a senior moment slammed the door of a really nice sports car, immediately realized that he had locked himself out, and loudly berated himself with a rude word you can supply for yourself. By the way, the standard 2011 Corolla does not stop you for doing this— with any kind of signal either.

Most modern cars won’t lock if the keys are in the ignition. Must be an old car.

thank god Bernice has a spare in her purse…….

The passenger should never lock the car, only the driver, that way they have a chance to remember the keys. Actually my car will not allow you to leave the door locked on the drivers side with the key in the ignition.

Bad idea girls!

1) No one has a bag or purse— howya gonna pay?2) At least there’s no baby in the backseat— like some parents leave to watch the car.3) Is the arc that someone is going to steal the car or just that they get locked out? (I could help them break in— one of my talents)4) Who said this would be a “Low Comment” week— yesterday there were 153! Team Evans knows how to hook us!

oopsie

And when I’m driving distance, I LOVE gas station breaks! Coffee, donut, coffee, burger, coffee, coffee, (you have to buy coffee to morally justify using their restrooms).

All they have to do is call their auto insurance, tell them that they are locked out of the car, and they’ll send a tow truck, and the driver will use a Slim-Jim to unlock the door. No stress, no drama, no worries. Easy-squeezy-peasy.

Well, technically, the prune juice was on topic, as it was being referred to by the Degroots, as all they had to celebrate with…..

and was part of Toni’s joke…. The punch line, if you will…. (sorry….)

I’ve always been so afraid that would happen that now I NEVER get out of my car without taking the key out of the ignition and putting it into my pocket. Don’t get locked out and my car won’t be stolen while I’m buying a soda.

Double parked, in Manhattan, car running. Cop with slim jim bailed me out of that jam. 1970 chevett (woody)

“Car door locks is also on topic.”I was in agreement that it was, just wanted to “defend” the prune juice bit… ( I NEVER thought I’d actually say that one day)

More expensive than a locksmith.

Dave, this is sure better than making up our own left field predictions of where the story is going next.

“I don’t mind most of the whimsical side trips our discussions take at all …. but for this to actually BE “on topic” as you say, seems pretty pathetic.”.Dave, enough commentators here have admitted actually doing something like this that the strip—and comments—count as useful advice. Besides, it creates suspense for those wondering if Bernice is going to make her appointment on time.

Hand raised

hmm. that’s funny. my 94 honda won’t let me power lock down all 4 doors unless i’m inside the car. the driver side always remains up.

If it’s a car built in the last, oh, 20 years, it has a door chime when the key is in the ignition and you open the door. Cars with a microchip key and power locks won’t lock at all if the key is in the ignition.

I keep a spare key in my wallet.

I was about to say what briatollah said.

Sure hope the next ‘toon doesn’t have somebody breaking the window and stealing the car.

I’m with you.

I have always maintained that it is incredibly bad design to have a passenger door lock enable all-door-lock.

I believe Karen’s reprogrammed just about EVERYBODY in the Strip. Interesting.

Hey. Hey.

Wanna have some FUN and bring some REAL Drama to this story line?

Have Bern walk up to the attendant and say: (SNORT) “This is a STICK UP!!!”

Yeah, Yeah.

THAT was MEAN.

…..,EVEN for Me……,

passenger side locks only lock the passenger door. It is the drivers side that locks all doors. So the doors are not lock. But it is a cartoon so real world logic doesn’t apply.

As for call some one to unlock the door . My daughter just got one of the local boys to pop it. in the country all the guys know how and in the city too.

Call “Blondstar”

Bernice didn’t fill up her tank before the start of a road trip ?

Delta didn’t empty her tank before the start of a road trip ?

and these are the “smart girls” of this strip ?

For those of you who are saying that Bernice’s purse is in the car, please take note: she’s wearing it over her right shoulder.

How many want to bet neither has triple A… But after this they will….

AAA classic stupidity

If she were driving a Ford product, she could punch the security code in the door keypad.

“Dumbass female driver . . .”

First of all, it wasn’t the driver who locked the car.

Second, I know plenty of men who have done that. Once my husband locked the car with the key in the ignition. He had an extra key in his wallet, which he had tossed in the front seat after getting his credit card out to pay inside. Also had a key in his jacket pocket, which he had tossed in the back seat. Three keys, all locked in the car.

Get the coat hanger, or call the cops who may have that device that opens door in a flash , but maybe not on the new modern day cars.

Buicks weren’t built between 1942 and 1946.

Uh Oh!

Better than discussing whether comic strip characters are having sex, or should be using protection – IMO :-/

A “Hide a Key” is a good investment. It’s a little metal box with a magnet that you could stick on the frame or in the wheel well. I don’t know if they still make them.

I love how many of you all are trying to proclaim how smart you are about locking keys in the car, insisting that cars are incapable of locking the keys inside, upset that a car would dare to have a lock switch on the passenger side, or proclaiming that two 16 year old girls should somehow have known better. Come on this is a fairly easy situation to get into and teenagers are not known for their foresight. I guess no one here made any stupid mistakes as a kid. Fact is many cars have lock switches on both sides and Delta’s parents have probably drilled locking doors into her so that it is second nature. They may call AAA they might not but at this point in the story they don’t even realize what has happened yet.Let the story teller have a chance to tell his story before you all tell him it’s wrong. BTW I don’t think Dirk will be the one to open the car since locksmiths are not supposed to have criminal records.

If the only thing both these very savvy young ladies can think of to do is to call Luann to come and save them, I’ll scream.

I don’t think this little mishap is the thick of the plot yet. I’ve been saying it could be the start of something a little more “dramatic” (getting tired of that word getting tossed around here, but it is a word…). Like maybe a slightly more serious situation coming up… Or it could be a set-up for either a chance encounter with someone who presents one of them with a future opportunity for something down the road, or maybe something unexpectedly pleasant. I know it seems an obvious thing to say, but my point is, it just seems that this is only the beginning of something with a payoff soon….

Oh man, LOVE this story arc so far. These boneheads are probably headed for far worse problems than this, and I can’t wait! By the end of it all I expect to see them stranded on an uncharted desert island with their clothes in tatters, fighting to the death over the last can of tuna fish.

…and not too many rants/off the wall debates….. and like you’ve said earlier, stuff has been MOSTLY on topic…..

sigh. knew it couldn’t just be a fun trip. I hate this strip

geez how dumb can someone be locking the door with the keys in the ignition!!!!!!!!!

My wife did something similar at a gas station years ago, when our daughter, who was in a car seat, but old enough to reach the lock button, was asleep in the back seat – and she didn’t wake up until a policeman with a ‘slim jim’ popped the lock!

Now watch as the one they denounced as always causing drama and did not want along for the ride is the only one who can get them out of a jam.

What idiot locks someone else’s car door? Delta, girl genius, that’s who. For all their putting down of Luann, they do stupid things too.