Putting daily errands on autopilot usually saves time, until muscle memory completely overrides common sense. One Minnesota creator, Tyler Smithson (@tyler_smithson), learned that the hard way during a late-night snack run. After a short grocery run during the day, he realized hours later that he had abandoned his truck in the parking lot. Detailing the mishap in a TikTok nearing 7,000 views, Smithson explained how a routine outing led to an embarrassing sequence of events. The punchline? He allegedly spent several minutes admiring a “nice truck” across the street before realizing he was staring at his own ride. Holding up his keys in the dark parking lot, Smithson laughed off his momentary lapse in judgment. Thankfully, he hopped in to drive the truck back home in time before it got towed away. The incident reminded everyone that auto-piloting your daily errands saves mental energy. But sometimes, it can make you walk home and leave a whole vehicle in a parking space. So, always check your pocket for any keys before you take a walk home from shopping. A regular grocery walk threw off Smithson’s awareness The mix-up allegedly started earlier that evening following a gym workout. Because Smithson lives directly across the street from his local grocery store, his daily habit is simply to walk over on foot, grab what he needs, and head back up to his apartment. On this particular evening, however, he decided to drive over instead. @tyler_smithson Can’t make this stuff up #storytime ♬ original sound – tyler_smithson After completing his shopping, his brain slipped straight back into autopilot mode. He grabbed his bags, walked right out of the store doors, crossed the street on foot, and strolled up the stairs to his apartment. In short, he unintentionally left his vehicle parked outside without a second thought. “I forgot my truck at the grocery store because I walked home instead of driving home, because I drove there. The problem is… I’m in the habit of walking to the grocery store every day because it’s just across the street.” Admiring a vehicle across the street reminded him that he forgot his truck Hours later, Smithson purportedly stepped outside to walk to a vending machine in an adjacent building. Looking across the street toward the dark grocery store lot, his eyes landed on a parked truck. Thinking to himself that it was a remarkably sharp truck, he soon noticed that it happened to be the exact make and color as his own. In his own words, “then it dawned on me…it is mine!” Walking across the asphalt, Smithson hit his key fob. He watched the lights flash to confirm the vehicle sitting in the lot was indeed his own. Had he not stepped out for a late-night vending machine run, he admitted he would have assumed his car was safe in his garage. But this would have left it vulnerable to towing or tampering by malicious people. While Smithson called himself “the dumbest” person for forgetting his truck, there is an explanation to his honest mistake. The human brain relies heavily on automated scripts for familiar tasks like neighborhood grocery runs. But when an established habit like walking across the street is momentarily altered by driving, the working memory sometimes fails to update the new sequence. Especially once the primary goal, i.e., buying groceries in Smithson’s case, is completed. So, even though leaving a whole vehicle behind sounds like a serious case of forgetfulness, Smithson’s circumstances excuse him just fine.