Don't Forget the Keys

Did you know that it is against the law in Austin to leave your car unattended with the keys in the ignition? This seems like a no-brainer in an urban setting, and I imagine the police would probably feel too sorry for someone who had their car stolen this way to tack on a $200 fine, but you never know.

One of the stupidest things I ever did was to leave my car unattended with the keys in the ignition and the car running. Aside from just being real excited to see the Monkees' 20th anniversary reunion tour at AstroWorld in 1986, I'm still not sure how I did it.

I believe it was during Micky Dolenz' scat-singing routine in "Goin' Down" that I realized my keys weren't in my pocket anymore. I looked around on the ground and couldn't find them. Most folks would've bolted right then, but those tickets set me back at least 15 bucks and I wasn't going to miss one goddamn second of Mike Nesmith-less Monkee magic.

At concert's end, I arrived at my car and was met by a conscientious AstroWorld parking lot attendent who'd turned off the car, locked it and held on to the keys. He didn't even make me feel like an idiot. My friends did, though.