Originally Posted by
lwildernorva
In the days before electronic locking systems on automobiles, a similar locking mechanism was used in cars. A good car thief could use a "shim" and get a car unlocked in seconds. When I was just entering college, my brother-in-law helped a fellow dormmate get into a car that he had locked himself out of by doing almost exactly this but with a coat hanger. My sister had been married to my BIL for about five years at that point and I knew him as an upstanding guy, but I must admit that, in those pre-YouTube days, I began to wonder about how he knew how to do what he did and what his life was like before he met my sister!
For me at 16 years old (talking ancient history here), it was being at a job site (building houses in rural Arkansas with my father) in the middle of nowhere and locking the key in the truck. Fortunately, my father had worked as an auto mechanic and knew how the lock was structured inside the door. With him explaining what to feel for and me doing the fishing, took about 15 minutes to get it open. Next time went a lot faster, but that time it wasn't
MY fault the keys got locked in the car.
Also figured out how to pick house locks and dead bolts because when you show up to finish the cabinets at a house 30 miles from the nearest human and the plumber locked the door before leaving, taking the key with him, it's a lot easier to learn how to pick the lock than it is to spend half a day of uncompensated hours finding the key.
Haven't had much calling for those talents in a long time and probably couldn't replicate the actions required.