Desperate for help (Birmingham, Twitter, car keys, NCP)

[LostCarKeys]

AIBU to beg for help from strangers on the internet?

I’m on holiday in Birmingham with three kids. I parked in an NCP car park on Monday night and we’ve been staying in a car park since.

We checked out this morning to leave and head home (Brighton) via Coventry to see my Nan (90 years old).

I can’t find my car keys 🤦🏻‍♀️

You will @LostCarKeys

we’re all supporting you. Go back to the memory of where you last had them, focus on it, keep breathing deeply - what did you do next?

Sounds like my pregnancy days @LakieLady.

Have all the kids checked their bags & pockets?

once my car keys fell in the lining of my handbag. Took days to work this out.

When I did this (I had security for an entire shopping centre looking for me, for hours, 2 kids with me, and ice-cream melting in my shopping) it was in my hoodie kangaroo pocket, where I didn't hear them jangling because it was so close to me and somehow managed to pat all my other pockets without trying that one.

When I locked myself out of the house, and couldn't find the spare, it was where I thought it was, where I'd checked at least 3 times, but clearly not slowly and carefully enough.

Stop. Take a breath, and go through everything one more time.

And when you find them, buy an airtag. They are life-savers.

I’m sure I did something like this @justwantsomesun.

bedside table checked, no drawer or cupboard.

Don't dismiss St. Anthony OP, honestly he's come through for me many times!

Any chance you would have given a child the keys to hold and then forgotten to take them back so they could be mixed up with toys?

I’d get public transport to your Nan if possible and sort the car afterwards. Would there be other family nearby that could come back to Birmingham with you and double check where you’ve looked?

Thanks @HeritageBlooms. I’m going for a walk.

I've added to the group St Anthony prayer!

I really have everything crossed for you, OP. Things like this are horrible and frustrating. I empathise with your feelings around wanting to get to see your Nan, too.

Something I do when I'm trying to remember something is tell myself "this is something you already know". I can find myself casting about for ideas when actually, it's some boring old thing already in my head!

Any joy on that foggy memory yet?

St. Anthony of Padu, hear my prayer,
My car keys have vanished,
Into thin air.
Help me to find them,
This I pray,
Please reunite them,
With me, today.

Amen.

Don't forget to say thanks, afterwards!

This is a very good point re: having your keys after parking your car

You were trying to get something out of your bag, so you were not in the hotel room at that time either

So - paying for something, needed a tissue, tickets for entry, a lipstick, a pen

If you can remember what it was then you can hopefully narrow down places where you may have left them.

Use your walk to mentally retrack your steps @LostCarKeys ! I reckon it will come to you.

You’re not using a pram or buggy are you? Could be in the hood?

Saint Antony prayer has to be said out loud!

Any chance there's a hole in your bag?

I kept losing house keys as a teen and my mum got so exasperated with me. Turns out there was a small hole in myhandbag and the house keys (just one key, no key chain) were falling into a hall, so in the lining of the bag.

I found 4 keys in there.

Were you about to accidentally use your car key instead of the hotel swipe card to gain access somewhere in the hotel? Would that explain your comment?

My keys have been lost into the lining of my handbag. Once I worked out they were in there it took a while to find the hole they went through.

Good luck. I hope you see your nan and get home safely.

I would forget about finding the keys for now. Can you get to your nan's by bus or taxi? I sense that's really important to you.

Then can you get spare keys sent to you from home and pick up the car tomorrow? I know that will cost but ££ spent on an extra night in a hotel feels like less of a waste than ££ spent getting into your car.

Or sod's law says that as soon as you arrive at your nan's in a taxi the ncp people will call to say they have your keys.

Which would be annoying but at least you'll have your keys and have seen your nan.

No extra help (other than search for Birmingham Fb pages).
But need to know the outcome now!

Can you move the bed in case they have been pushed under that?

If you have a spare key at home, even it is hours away, it still might be cheaper to pay for a taxi to bring it to you than for the AA...

It doesn't sound like they are in the carpark from your story about pulling them out of your pocket - but if you really want to speak to someone, there's usually a 'help' button on the pay machine or by the exit barrier where you put your ticket in?

I assume you have asked the kids to focus on where the incident of the keys in the pocket thing happened? It seems likely that would have been very early on, on the first day of your visit, as you would be unlikely to carry the keys in your pocket for days? What is normally in your pocket to have prompted you to even look there on that occasion, that might help to narrow it down. What would you have been looking for in there?

Does the car park machine have an intercom you can press for help?

I think you should jump on a train to see your nan. Can you stay over there? I think it would be cheaper to get the train or national express home from there (probably train because you won't have to pay for the children), and then get a off peak day return up with your spare keys in a couple of days.

It was menopause related in my case, OP!

Did you use a public toilet anywhere since you arrived, and could the key have fallen out of a trouser pocket while taking your trousers down?

This happened to me once, thankfully I have a few keys on my key ring and I heard it. If it had been a single car key, I doubt if I would have done.

Also thankful that they landed on the floor, not down the lav!

You could also look on your online banking to get reminders of where you've spent money since you've been there. That might give you a clue, or even trigger a memory.

Checking online banking is a genius idea!

It def seems likely that you lifted them out and set them down while you did something, or they fell out when sitting on a sofa or something - since you didn't hear them drop.