Scratch That

(Last week, Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan gave a storytelling Q&A. What did I ask him? Click here to find out on this week's Jared's Inkwell! -JMG)

Story Sent in by Sherman:

I had a new car and I took it out on my date with Kay. It wasn't anything too fancy (a Toyota) but I was still pretty proud to have it, and we talked about it a little bit at dinner.

"Can I see it?" Kay asked. I told her that after dinner, we could do just that.

She seemed really interested in it, asking me to pop the hood, checking the wheel wells, and revving the engine. Once she was done and we stood outside the car, she then pulled out her keys and said, "Can I key it?"

I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly. "As in... scratch it? Scratch my car?"

She said, "Yeah. It's good luck on a new car, isn't it?"

I said, "Not even in the slightest. No one does that."

She said, "My brother's girlfriend did it to two of his cars. He asked her to. If you don't want me to I won't, but it's good luck you'll be missing out on."

"I've never heard of that before. No one keys cars for good luck."

"My brother does. Twice."

"No thank you."

She bade me a hasty goodbye not long after that. The experience was a little weird, but maybe she was just clueless. Anyway, when I reached out to her for a second date, she wrote back, "If you're too stupid to accept good luck when it's offered, then it makes me hesitate to go out with you again. I hope you understand."

So no second date. Good luck and an unscratched car for me, after all.