a lesson in what happens if you don't communicate

We have a wonderful set up in my house whereby I am insured on Jo's car, and so I get to use it when she doesn't need it. Sunday evening was one of those times. We were both going to the prayer meeting, but I was going earlier, and Jo was going with her boyfriend. So I drove there, avoiding being blown over on my bike by the howling winds (which I had already faced that morning when I ran 10k along a rather exposed route).

Jo left the prayer meeting before I did, but I only realised this when I opened my eyes to see that she wasn't there anymore. My assumption - she'd driven her car back. Our other housemate, Sazzle, had also driven to the meeting, so it would've been fine for Jo to take the car. Sazzle also left early, but checked that I was ok to get home. Our neighbour was still there, so I knew I could just get a lift back with him, which I did. All well and good.

Fast forward to Monday morning in the office and Hazel's relating how she nearly managed to lock someone in the school (where we meet)after the prayer meeting. She was describing how the security man had turned up, which was unusual as the school have entrusted us with a set of keys to the main building. So normally, the security man will just come after we've all left to lock up the main gates. Hazel related how she queried with the security guard whether it was ok to lock up with Jo's car still in the car park. At which point, I thought, 'why does she think it was Jo's car? Jo left ages before her, and so did I...' I said that I didn't think it could have been Jo's car, as she'd already gone home - it must be someone else's, to which both Hazel and Sarah replied, 'Well, it definitely looked like her car', at which point the whirring cogs slotted into place and I realised I'd left Jo's car at the school. Whoops!!

Fortunately, Jo had not needed her car on Monday morning, hence why we had not realised what had happened. Had Hazel not said anything, at 6pm on Monday evening when Jo and I leave the house to go to Youth, a flood of panic would have rushed through us as the thought that her car had been stolen came blazing across our minds, before realising it hadn't, then being hideously late to Youth due to having to walk 40 minutes to pick up the car. Thankfully, I was able to get the car in the afternoon, and all was well by the evening.

Moral of the story? It's helpful to tell each other your movements to avoid losing cars.