Well do ya?
I live in a quiet neighbourhood and always lock them at night or when I leave. Otherwise it’s maybe 50/50. One of my doors really only latches when its locked so I generally keep that one locked, and as the toddler grows I have a feeling that I will have to keep them locked to keep her in the house.
A few years ago I lived in a really small town, and had no air conditioning. In the summer it was brutally hot and in order to have any sort of air flow I had to have all the windows and the door open. I didn’t bother to even close the door when I left.
I live on the edge of a major city, not far from a not-so-nice area of town, and there have been some break-ins in the neighborhood. I got in the habit of locking my doors in childhood; my parents were security-conscious without being paranoid.
When I lived alone (urban San Diego / Los Angeles), I usually locked the door if I was away for more than a half hour and almost always before bed. I’d leave it unlocked for short trips to the grocery store or to get lunch or something. Everyone I’ve ever lived with has thought me insane and insisted on locking the door basically at all times, on the premise that Very Bad People frequently wander small apartment buildings looking for murder victims. Now the door is locked whenever it is closed.
I always thought it was a probabilities game: a closed door looks locked, and most folks do lock theirs. A cheap Home Depot deadbolt won’t stop a determined professional, so the only reason for locking is to deter opportunists and junior thieves, who would have to come up and try the doorknob. Less likely in the daytime; they’re more likely to go through the windows around the back. Never had a problem.
Rural area, with dogs. I don’t believe we have keys to any of our doors.
my doors are always locked - have been from childhood on.
both parents were chicago natives, so it was in the blood to do so even when we lived in the wilds of northern new jersey in the early 60s.
I had to find mine a few years back. My husband was in Florida visiting family, and I spooked myself and started locking doors at night. I left the house one day without unlocking the doors and had to get a locksmith to get me back in.
But no locking. I even leave my keys in my unlocked car. There’s no crime here, unless you count kids spilling soap all over the park restrooms.
Here’s something besides the possibility of burglary: When I was living in the apartment with my sister and her four cats, a little boy opened our door just randomly. Being of an age before he would develop foresight, he didn’t understand why I was upset (because I don’t want to chase three cats all over the complex, including one who doesn’t understand why alleys are dangerous).
Even tho crime is apparently low around here (tho some amateur tried to steal the faceplate of my car stereo once-the maintenance people found it later in the week lying near the pool), I’ve had people try my door handle once in awhile.
Back door is always locked, unless I’m outside.
Front door is locked when away, and at night when I remember (most of the time).
For reasons totally different than security, the front storm door is locked if the front door is open for light, because one of the dogs is an escape artist.
Previous house in rural North Carolina was rarely locked. All of the hoods in the area were scared of the dogs.
Always when I’m not home. Usually at night, which can start around 6pm or so if I don’t expect to go out in the evening.
Also at some other times, like if I notice somebody knocking on another door in the hallway or I just feel like it.
The question immediately reminded me of the time that I broke my key last fall. It had been playing up, not wanting to go all the way into the lock without jamming, and one night on my way out to a driving lesson, I got so worked up that I managed to bend the old key into a crooked angle (less than 150 degrees?) halfway in the middle of the part that was supposed to slide into the lock.
I told the driving teacher that I couldn’t have a lesson that evening, worked from home the next day, and that evening the landlord came by and installed me a nice new lock.
My own inclination is to lock the doors when I’m not at home and before bed but my wife locks them constantly.
When I was young, we never locked the front door. One day in 7th grade, I came home and found the house robbed – the thieves had kicked the back door in :rolleyes:
I live in Chicago, so I always lock the door.
A related anecdote: on our third date, my SO didn’t lock her passenger door. As far as I know, this literally was the only time in that car when all four doors weren’t locked. I spend three maybe four hours at her place. On my way back, I realize my car had been broken into, glove compartment contents strewn all over the place. Luckily, they didn’t find anything they wanted, plus they left a butter knife behind, so I ended up ahead.
Bad luck? Absolutely. But I’m also pretty sure had that door been locked, the thief would have just moved on to the next car. I feel the same way about house doors. Neighbors on my block have been broken into while they stepped out into the backyard to tend a barbecue. So it happens.
A butter knife? That’s as bizarre as it is hilarious. What did you do with it?
I don’t really worry about keeping my doors locked, but I do tend to keep my front door bolted so that I don’t forget to lock it when I leave the house. We use the garage door to go in and out. That said, it’s not locked now.
Our doors are always locked, except the back door is left open for the cats to come and go during the day when I’m home (we really do need to put in a cat door). The car is locked in a locked garage. I’ve had my cars and homes broken into so many times I’ve lost count.
I live in a small brownstone in Manhattan and never lock my apartment door. The front door is always locked of course and I know the other 3 tenants so I don’t worry about it. Even when we lived in a huge building (where we knew none of our neighbors) we left the aportent door unlocked. With 3 absentminded sons it saves lot of trouble. In more than 25 years of living this way, I have yet to regret it. We do lock the door about once every 2 years when the whole family will be gone for a vacation of a week or more. So how do you score this? Basically, I am an “unlocked” person but since the building door must stay locked, you could score me either way.
Well, I use it to butter my bread, of course.
I assume the butter knife was for prying crap out of the car or something. Seems to me he must have been scared off very quickly. From what I remember, it looked like there was some effort made at the car stereo.
Shit, that reminds me. That was the second time I had that car broken into. The time before that was in Milwaukee, when the inn I was staying at, the front desk fuckers who parked the car forgot to lock it (I assume. I actually have no reason to believe they were in on it. I had to leave my car keys with them because they had a tiny, tiny lot and needed to move cars around.) Anyhow, I get back to my car in the morning, reach to turn on my car stereo, and realize something’s a bit off. I look around the car and, sure enough, it’s been riffled through. I look closer at my car stereo and realize it’s gone–or, wait, no it’s not. But the faceplate is gone. Along with my CDs and some other random items.
I’m pissed off. I go into the inn, tell them what happened, they give me “there’s nothing we can do” crap. And all I want to do at that point is leave and have a beer. I couldn’t believe they would just steal the faceplate. That’s just mean. Take the whole stereo, at least. However, there is a semi-happy ending. When I get back into the car, I poke around to see what else is missing and find the faceplate under the driver’s seat. So at least I had music on my way back to Chicago.
The two other times I had my car broken into (within a space of four days, in two completely different neighborhoods), I didn’t lock my car door the first time (this was before I became religious about always locking the door), and the second time they smashed out the window–all for a fucking Radio Shack Realistic AM-FM-cassette tape player. Does that even have a street value?
So, yeah, I lock my doors. Always. Everywhere.
Anyhow, sorry for the car tangent.
Depending on your car insurance, this could result in a denial of your claim if (God forbid) your car gets stolen, trashed or chopped. Just a thought.
It would be downright stupid not to lock the doors at any time except when you are looking at the door. I live in a community with zero murders/ year and less of everything bad. However, there is a large crime ridden city 20 miles away and a handy expressway. Plus, there are always teens around looking for opportunities. I’ve been a victim of break-ins before and seek to avoid a rerun.
Above all else, my physical safety must be maintained. I have no entry ways that are easily penetrated, especially when dark or when I’m sleeping. I’m going to get some warning and will be somewhat prepared. Anything else is ridiculous.