# Explain: This Door Ain't Never Been Locked, Swear It Never Will **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 19, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602 "2013-08-19T00:36:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Girl\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b38774/32.png) [@Girl\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/21 "2013-08-19T07:22:56Z")
We left town for the day just this week, gone for 8+ hours, and it never occurred to me to lock the doors. I don’t have a key for the back door and have just one for the front (that does get used if we’re going away for more than a few nights). I don’t lock up before bed, which some overnight visitors seem uncomfortable with (and if it bothers them I will lock the doors). I don’t lock my car. When my husband takes the car to work, he often leaves the keys on the floor in case I feel like walking down to use it for anything. I have, however, lived in larger areas that I wouldn’t dream of leaving the house/car unlocked. I have also thought about, in passing and as mentioned by **Martian Bigfoot,** what would happen if someone _did_ waltz in and walk off with our stuff in regards to what the insurance company might say. I may live to regret the choice I suppose if anything happens. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/22 "2013-08-19T10:13:01Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > _**I think it is part of the myth of “small town” America, where, back in the good old days before all those city folk and liberals and foreigners ruined everything, everybody in town knew everyone else, there was no crime (beyond the town drunk), and everybody was welcome in everybody else’s home. Locking your door would be both unnecessary and inhospitable.**_ > > As a British person, newly arrived in America, in a smallish town (but a university town no less) in California, people warned me not to go out of my apartment without locking the front door (with the implication that this necessity was a fairly recent, sad, modern development). I was quite taken aback. I grew up in a pretty middle-class, law abiding area in Britain, but I would never have dreamed of going out without locking my front door, and I have some doubt as to whether Americans of earlier generations really ever did so either. They like to believe they did, though. (bolding mine) Basically, this. Of course, it has a lot to do with _ **where** _ you’re talking about. In larger towns and cities, people have probably always locked their doors. In a lot of small towns, and particularly in the suburbs and beyond, it was (and probably still is, to some extent) the norm, to never, or seldom, lock ones doors. I have relatives that live in ‘the country’ (it’s 15 miles to the closest town, and a 1/4 mile to the nearest neighbor, and the neighbor is another relative) and they didn’t start locking their doors until just a few years back. And that’s only when they leave the house for more than a couple of hours. If they’re at home or just up the road at the neighbors, the doors are unlocked. They _ **still** _ leave their car keys on the floorboard, _ **night and day** _. Try doing that in any big city, or even mid-sized town, these days. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/23 "2013-08-19T10:26:32Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I have some doubt as to whether Americans of earlier generations really ever did so either. They like to believe they did, though. I don’t know about Americans, but I’ve been raised during the 70s in a French village where it was the case. Many people, as far as I can tell, indeed didn’t lock their doors, at least during the day. My grandmother locked the door at night. I don’t know if other people did the same since obviously I didn’t visit/interact with them at night. The crime rate was zero. I don’t remember any instance of burglary in the area (not just the village) during my childhood. It’s not the case anymore. Though quite rare by city standard, burglaries do happen (in fact isolated houses are specifically targeted) and people lock their doors. The population has become more mobile, residents and criminals alike. When I was a kid, almost everybody had lived there his whole life and apart from some relatives of the locals during summer, there was essentially no visitors. Any “outsider” would have stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I’ve no trouble believing it could have been and could still be the case in rural America. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/24 "2013-08-19T10:48:45Z")
Forgot to add, in response to the OP : of course it’s a good thing not to have to lock one’s door. It’s not about bad guys being responsible or not for their actions, but about the lack of bad guys (at least the sort of bad guys who would steal your stuff). It’s telling that you didn’t get it immediately, in fact. That said, rural life had many drawbacks, and having to lock your door might be well worth not having to deal with them, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/25 "2013-08-19T12:06:41Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > It’s telling that you didn’t get it immediately, in fact. Well, living my life in St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, and Gary, IN just might have something to do with my lack of “getting it”. It’s a pretty foreign concept to a city dweller. I suppose it does make some sense if you’re living way out in the middle of nowhere with the neighbors miles away, but I also don’t get people who come into where I live and brag about not locking their doors - it might be safe where you live, but here it would be foolish at best. I was once teased when I did go out to the boonies about locking my car, but I pointed out to the guy that given where I \*live \*as opposed to where I visit it wasn’t a habit I could afford to break. That, and when I went to visit the in-laws in rural Tennessee we had to lock our cars because otherwise a certain number of them would have riffled through our stuff and/or taken it. They also had a bad habit of borrowing peoples’ cars without asking permission. So, in that case, being out in the country you still couldn’t leave your stuff unguarded even if they didn’t lock their doors. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/26 "2013-08-19T13:12:22Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I would never have dreamed of going out without locking my front door, and I have some doubt as to whether Americans of earlier generations really ever did so either. They like to believe they did, though. Lose your doubt. Not just “earlier generations,” either. I know plenty of houses that are only ever locked when the family is away traveling. Some people leave their car keys in the ignition, too. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/27 "2013-08-19T13:20:34Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > There’s something to be said for stopping the bored kids who aren’t determined to get in, but are trying handles, or the junkie who is looking for the easiest possible score. > > I mean, not everyone who breaks into houses is an ax murderer coming for you in particular. Bingo. It’s like the old joke punchline: “I don’t have to outrun the bear; I only have to outrun you.” Putting a Club on your car’s steering wheel won’t stop the gang of international car thieves; it will stop the slim-jim wielding booster. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/28 "2013-08-19T13:36:10Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Lose your doubt. > > Not just “earlier generations,” either. I know plenty of houses that are only ever locked when the family is away traveling. Some people leave their car keys in the ignition, too. My boss in the early 80s. I had to go get something for him at his house. He told me to go in thru the unlocked garage door. Houston, affluent suburb. Some older friends of my parents did the same thing. Front door locked, side or back unlocked. I lived in a nearby apartment, wouldn’t dream of even sitting in my own place watching TV without the door locked. Always locked car and apt. I figured that the older gen’s unlocked ways were a holdover from their earlier, “simpler” days. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/29 "2013-08-19T13:36:30Z")
Growing up in the 70s, early 80s the door was never locked. Good thing because I think my parents lost the key the day they moved in. Although my father was a police officer and that was well known in the community so maybe other people locked their doors in the neighborhood. Now I only lock my door when no one is home and at night. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/30 "2013-08-19T13:51:09Z")
I felt weird about locking my indoor apartment door with both the lock and a deadbolt whenever I came in, even though I now live in the city - there was an outside house door with a lock, after all. The house door was set so that you could not keep it from locking. My parents were visiting and would give me funny looks about locking my apartment door even during the day, because there were only three apartments in the place and my parents didn’t lock their door at home. Who exactly did I think would try and get in? Of course, it was THAT night at 4 am some high and/or drunk guy uses a porch chair to beat the downstairs house door in and then comes up to our apartment door trying to kick it down. I didn’t feel quite so weird locking both inside locks after that. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/31 "2013-08-19T13:58:54Z")
I grew up in the VA suburbs of DC in the 1960s, and we always locked the doors to our house when we were away. We never locked our car doors when the cars were in the driveway, though. That’s pretty much how I do things now, only I’m in a MD exurb of DC. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/32 "2013-08-19T13:59:21Z")
When my parents got married (1984), the neighbours were shocked to find that the front door was locked. The neighbours wanted to introduce themselves, and were used to walking into each other’s homes uninvited. Nowadays, I couldn’t imagine leaving my door unlocked, even when I’m at home. It just seems terribly dangerous. Then again, most of us now don’t even know our neighbours’ names. The two things are probably connected. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/33 "2013-08-19T14:49:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If I were a song writer, I’d use that phrase to mean the door to my heart. What was the rest of the song about? I agree. It’s highly unlikely the phrase was meant literally. It could be the door to my heart, or just the door is open for an ex-lover to return to you. Even those who long for the days when you could leave your door unlocked would never express it in that way. I also find it astonishing that it took 19 posts for anyone to raise the possibility it wasn’t literal. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/34 "2013-08-19T15:09:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I also find it astonishing that it took 19 posts for anyone to raise the possibility it wasn’t literal. My first impression was that it meant a bedroom door, actually - something along the lines of “no fight between us will be allowed to escalate to the point that one of us locks the other out.” Anyway, I grew up in a Nebraska town of about 600 people on a good day. We never locked our doors. I wasn’t even sure how, or where the key was. We did lock it up the summer before we sold it, but by then I was off to college. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/35 "2013-08-19T15:09:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I agree. It’s highly unlikely the phrase was meant literally. It could be the door to my heart, or just the door is open for an ex-lover to return to you. > > Even those who long for the days when you could leave your door unlocked would never express it in that way. > > I also find it astonishing that it took 19 posts for anyone to raise the possibility it wasn’t literal. Do you listen to much FM radio country these days? It’s big on gushing idolization of rural America and light on subtle metaphors. Googling the lyric, it is in fact from a “small towns are great” song and so I’m almost certain it is literal. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/36 "2013-08-19T15:15:37Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If I were a song writer, I’d use that phrase to mean the door to my heart. What was the rest of the song about? That’s what I was thinking. Or even more literally, if they were keeping the door to their heart open for their lover, they would keep the door to their house open for them as well. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/37 "2013-08-19T15:20:25Z")
For those wondering, the song is “Where I Come From” by Montgomery Gentry. The line is clearly not a metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/38 "2013-08-19T15:32:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I agree. It’s highly unlikely the phrase was meant literally. No, it was very much meant literally. **Labrador Deceiver** has kindly tracked down the song. If you listen to it you’ll see that very plainly it is meant absolutely literally in the song. The relevant lines are: > [@](#): > > See that door right there, man I swear > It ain’t never been locked > And I can I can tell you that it never will The thing is, while I can somewhat grok the concept of a small town where crime is so rare and neighbors so well know that leaving your door unlocked is not dangerous, this notion that the narrator will NEVER lock his door strikes this city girl as quite bizarre. Really? Never? Not even if you go away for a week or some desperado rolls into town? It seems a stubborn refusal to adapt to changing circumstances to me. But whatever. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/39 "2013-08-19T15:43:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The thing is, while I can somewhat grok the concept of a small town where crime is so rare and neighbors so well know that leaving your door unlocked is not dangerous, this notion that the narrator will NEVER lock his door strikes this city girl as quite bizarre. Really? Never? Not even if you go away for a week or some desperado rolls into town? It seems a stubborn refusal to adapt to changing circumstances to me. But whatever. We would leave town for days on end without locking the house at all. True fact. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/40 "2013-08-19T15:53:12Z")
It’s just the way small towns are. It’s only a slight exaggeration that if a strange car pulls up into your driveway all the busybody old lady neighbors will know about it before you do. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602.md?page=3)