So recently I was unpacking my car and I came back and my trunk was open. I hadn't been in or out of my trunk that day. Nothing had been taken and the car itself was locked, so I determined I'd likely accidentally thumbed the "pop trunk" button on my key fob while in range of the car. No harm, no foul, it's all good.
Last night I woke up in a cold sweat wondering if A) my car was locked, and B) if I'd accidentally opened the trunk somehow from my apartment—and while Part A is normal for me, occurring almost nightly, Part B is new. New, and also a possibility because I can, in fact, lock my car without leaving my apartment using the key fob. I can hear the car beep when I lock it and I take advantage of this all the time, locking my car before I go to bed and throughout the evening leading up to said bedtime to soothe my anxieties; sorry, neighbors.
If I can unlock and lock the car from my apartment, it stands to reason I could pop my trunk from that distance, too. AND THIS TERRIFIES ME.
And so: I fumbled downstairs in the dark, pressed my ear to the front door, and used the fob to lock my car. Same old, same old. I've done this a million times in the dead of night in the past (sorry, neighbors, but I can't sleep if I don't comfort myself in this manner), but last night that beep didn't comfort me at all because I was CONVINCED I'd somehow popped the trunk.
Lucky for me I'd parked within sight of my apartment porch and not in the carport underneath my building. Checking on my trunk in that spot would involved going outside and downstairs in the dead of night in a bathrobe. I tried to look through the peephole at my car, but the image was too fuzzy for me to see properly. I poked my head out the door, verified the trunk, and then went back to bed...after relocking my car one last time (sorry, neighbors).
SORRY, NEIGHBORS.
I used to be paranoid about two things: whether or not my car was locked, and whether or not my neighbors get annoyed at my car honking to tell me it is, in fact, locked.
I am now paranoid about four things: whether or not my car is locked, the temperament of my neighbors, whether or not I’ve accidentally popped my trunk, and whether or not this new paranoia is going to stick around and keep me up at night the same way the first two paranoias have.