Driving down the M6 last week I stopped off at the Services to buy some food from M&S. Parked up, entered the complex, saw M&S was over the footbridge, toddled over and did my shopping for the journey. Came out and looked for my car. Gone.
I must have walked up and down for ten minutes trying to find it and all the while having this sick feeling in my stomach as I remembered leaving the spare key in the well by the gear lever. The whole weeks plans up in smoke, the wrath of SWMBO. The hassle.
Saw a couple of Unipart guys outside their van. "You're not going to believe this", I said. "I think my car's been nicked". "What colour is it ?" they asked. I replied "Grey' and they pointed to a sea of grey cars. "It's an Audi...registration FN...", I said. Together we had another look. Nothing.
Oh s**t I thought, better go in to find a phone to report it missing to the police. As I walked to the door, I thought "Funny...I'm sure that when I came in the door was an automatic one. This one is manual" "Maybe there is another door round the corner....." I went and looked...nada.
And then....
Relating this tale to the owner of the curry house I made my regular for the week, he told me about his brother going to Brighton with the family and parking his car on the sea-front. Later that night, they went to get in to drive back to London but couldn't find it. They ended up running flat out to catch the last train back to town. The next day, he got the train back to see his brother in Littlehampton. Together they went to Brighton and there was the car, parked where he'd eft it on the road above the road he'd been looking for it.
We walk among you