Headline: I enjoy the “Gentleman’s Keyless Entry” that I have with my 2010 Toyota Prius.
What do I mean by Gentleman’s Keyless Entry? First I need to review some history.
Before Remote Locks
There was a day that cars did not have remotes to lock and unlock them. So a driver had two basic choices – Open the door for the lady, or “the slide”. For the slide you merely hop in on the driver side and then slide across the seat until you could reach the lock on the passenger side. My first car was a 1970 Mercury Marquis. I could lie down in the front seat (it was a bench seat) and not have my head or feet touch either door! That’s quite a slide! Of course, in smaller cars it was “the lean” (and frequently I saw that accompanied by a cigarette dangling from the driver’s mouth – their left hand was busy bracing by gripping the steering wheel while the right hand was busy unlocking the door, thus leaving the cigarette to dangle…).
Electric Locks
Next came the electric locks. Once you opened the driver’s door you could press a button and open all the locks. Now it was very convenient “not to be a gentleman”. Merely let your lady approach the passenger’s side and wait for you to unlock the doors.
With Remote Locks
But it was the remote that unlocks the door that really brought about the deterioration of gentlemanly behavior regarding car doors. Now you could unlocked the doors before you each arrived at the car. This was quite efficient and discrete. Remote locks don’t highlight lack of opening the door nearly as much as “the lean” or “the slide”!
and now…
Gentleman’s Keyless Entry
I now have a car with smart key passive entry. I don’t even need to take the key out of my pocket to click the remote in order to open the door. However, there’s a catch! Placing my hand on the driver’s door handle will not open the passenger’s door. However, when I open the passenger’s side door it unlocks all the doors.
So now my electronic device actually encourages me to walk around to my lady’s door and open it for her – then return to the driver’s side. (The alternative of course it either to remove the remote from my pocket or to open the driver’s side then press the unlock button.)
It makes me smile every time I walk to her side, open the door, let her in, and close it.
After many years now technology actually encourages gentlemanly behavior rather than discourage it… 🙂
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