Of all the Places to Lose Your Keys

In the... let's see now... eleven? years I have known Joel, he has never lost his keys. Yes he has misplaced them a time or two... I recall they somehow wound up in the trash once... But he has never permanently lost them. Until today apparently, when he called me from the airport in Denver to say he was about to get on a plane to fly home (a day early from his conference) and could not find his keys.

Houston, we have a problem. Not only does this mean I have to go pick him up at the airport later tonight, it also means that in all likelihood we will need to have his car towed from the airport to the dealership because his car alarm is on and the only alarm-turner-offer-beeper-thingy is attached to his keys. I have a key to his car but if the alarm is on I won't be able to start it unless there's a manual override button somewhere, which I don't think there is (the guy at the dealership said it would be red and to the left of the steering column and I don't recall ever seeing such a button in his car).

So... of all the places to lose your keys, why does it have to be Denver, with your car at the airport?!