We all know how annoying it is to temporarily misplace a car. Usually it just means wandering around a multi-storey parking lot aimlessly for 20 minutes and cursing how similar the colour-coding system is (what genius would use both peach AND apricot?!).
If we’re really unlucky it can take hours – we’re talking Kramer forgetting where he parked for so long Elaine’s goldfish died type of time.
But all that pales in comparison to one hapless fella who forgot where he parked his Volkswagen Passat one day in 1997.
The unnamed 76-year-old from Germany ended up reporting the car as stolen to his local police station. He must have felt a little bit silly when the car was found earlier this week – a full 20 years later – in an industrial parking garage.
To add insult to injury, it was right where he had parked it.
The garage was about to be demolished and the car was hindering the demolition process.
The moment he got the call from the police, the sheepish man raced to the abandoned parking garage with his daughter to reunite with his old Passat.
Unfortunately, rust had slowly taken over and the engine wouldn’t start, leaving him with no choice but to let the car be scrapped like the rest of the garage.
As crazy as it sounds, it’s not the first time we’ve heard of some wacky stories about people forgetting where they parked.
Earlier this month a man in Washington called the police reporting a carjacking at knife point.
Police raced to the scene to find the ‘victim’ who came clean, telling them he couldn’t remember where he parked and thought the authorities would get there faster if he said he was carjacked.
Although he wasn’t wrong, it didn’t impress police who have more important things to be doing, like catching murderers and the like.
They handcuffed him and drove him around the parking lot until they found his car.
And in July, 19 year old Canadian man, Gavin Strickland, forgot which parking garage he parked his Nissan sedan in to attend a Metallica concert.
His dismayed parents turned to website Craigslist to ask the public for their help. Luckily for them, the post went viral and the car was discovered by 26-year-old Madison Riddolls who said, “I felt like I owed it to the family. They were sort of relying on us”.
The parking garage only charged him with one day of parking and gave him a little Bluetooth device to make sure he didn’t lose his car again. Even more proof that Canadians are the ultimate sweethearts!
