On what would have been the average Friday night, something simultaneously stupid and amazing happened.

A friend of mine came over with plans to hang out and probably go to bars or whatever. She showed up at my house and was on the phone with someone. Just as she was completing her phone call, she got out of her car, closed the door, walked three feet, and then heard a honk. Wouldn’t ya know it, her doors were locked.

Where were her keys? Inside the car.

We began with your average search for the random unlocked door. This was obviously an epic fail. We moved on to searching for a spare key that she had taped to the rear bumper. This key was no where to be found. We continued to search for entry points to no avail.

My obvious solution? Look at the internet for answers.

We started searching and most sites told us to call AAA or locksmiths. This was out of the cards because a spare key was available at her house 30 minutes away. Waste of money to call these people, but we didn’t want to hassle someone to bring the key or anything.

There were, however, a couple of sites that suggested that we might be able to get the job done with a hanger. I was quite skeptical that the job could be done, but since she has no car alarm, I was willing to give it a shot.

We fashioned a coat hanger into a lock jimmy and then went to work. Many directions tell you to search for a small pin in the center of the door where the lock actuator is. I searched and poked and prodded, but there was no action. Try as I might, I could not get the door open for the life of me.

Moving on, I double-checked the internet for more tips. Someone suggested that the pin could be anywhere as near as the handle, to as far as underneath the side mirror. So, armed with new info, I continued the search. Low, and behold, after another five minutes I had the door opened.

Here is a picture of the job just after completion:

To be perfectly honest, I had almost zero faith that this would work considering both; I had never done it and that a coat hanger, once stretched out, is just about the flimsiest thing on Earth. I was left astonished once the door actually opened.

All in all, even though we didn’t end up going out, I learned how to do something new and got pumped that it actually worked out.