# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/81 "2013-08-21T00:11:45Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > The Denny’s near me has normal doors with a lock. If we get enough anecdotes, it counts as data, right? 😉 The Denny’s near where I used to live (Fremont, California) had no locks on its front door. One year, they decided to close for Christmas. That’s when the manager realized they needed a lock and called the locksmith in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/82 "2013-08-21T17:26:48Z")
Since it doesn’t look like anyone’s posted it yet, [here](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/montgomery_gentry/where_i_come_from.html) are the full lyrics to the song. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/83 "2013-08-21T21:49:02Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:78, topic:666602”] It’s really very simple. If my doors are unlocked and someone “breaks in” and steals stuff, all I lose is the stuff. If I lock the doors, they’ll break one of my sliding glass doors with a rock, and then I lose the stuff AND an expensive door. [/QUOTE] But odds are probably at least as good that if your door is locked, they’ll go across the street to steal stuff from Ted’s unlocked house which is easier and less attention attracting to enter than smashing your door to get into your locked house. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/84 "2013-08-21T22:03:50Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:78, topic:666602”] It’s really very simple. If my doors are unlocked and someone “breaks in” and steals stuff, all I lose is the stuff. If I lock the doors, they’ll break one of my sliding glass doors with a rock, and then I lose the stuff AND an expensive door. [/QUOTE] Tom and Ray have taught me that this is the best way to deal with locking your doors if you drive a convertible. You’re not convincing me that it transfers to the doors on a home. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/85 "2013-08-21T23:58:36Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > But odds are probably at least as good that if your door is locked, they’ll go across the street to steal stuff from Ted’s unlocked house which is easier and less attention attracting to enter than smashing your door to get into your locked house. (a) Ted’s unlocked house is a couple of hundred yards away. (b) They’re not going to attract that much attention when my back doors aren’t visible from any other building and there are only a handful of houses within a quarter mile of me. > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Tom and Ray have taught me that this is the best way to deal with locking your doors if you drive a convertible. You’re not convincing me that it transfers to the doors on a home. When I had a convertible, my rule was to leave it unlocked and never leave anything inside it (except in the locked trunk). The radio was worth a whole lot less than a new top! ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/86 "2013-08-23T07:38:43Z")
While visiting my uncle for a summer growing up I realized that the front door only had a latch NO LOCKS!! It was a log house that he & my dad had built in the 40s. The basement had a slab door, also with no lock, between it and the main floor. The slab was made from an old growth Doug Fir. That is OK since the rock walls were not complete yet. I would drive my Baja into the basement to work on it. His main ranch rig was a military surplus Willys (Jeep) it had the stock paddle switch for the ignition. No keys. The Wooden tool box bolted down in the back of the Willys had a hasp for a padlock, but it only had a dog leash hook on it. It kept the tool from flying around on the rough trails. AMHIK. I attended his funeral last year, and the doors are still the same as is the Willys. I know because my cousins had me crash at his house. I drove the Willys to the funeral, it missed the old guy. My cousin’s son is living there now and he uses the Willys for what his grandpa did. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/87 "2013-08-23T12:49:05Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I lived in Dubai for three years and never locked the door. I am not sure I even had a key. For the cool winter months (Jan-Mar), the front door was open 24 hours a day most of the time. There was a gate in the yard at the front of the house, but if you opened that, you could walk right in. No locks. Nobody ever bothered us. It was ok to leave the keys in the ignition of the car too. I know a guy in Bahrain that would go to London for 3 months and leave his house unlocked and his Mercedes in the driveway with the keys in the ignition. Just a WAG, but when the ‘penalty’ for stealing is to have one of your hands cut off, :eek: one would pretty confidently assume that thieves are pretty few, and far between, don’t you think? 😕 Of course, I could be wrong about this, seeing as how I’m not really all that familiar with the legal system, in that part of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/88 "2013-08-23T13:15:44Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I don’t lock my house. I couldn’t actually come up with the keys if I had to. There’s nothing worth stealing, and if you want in there so badly you’ll brave my doberman, german shepherds, giant schnauzer and standard poodle, I guess you’d break a window if the door was locked. Besides, unless you were really big, you could probably fit through the dog door. > > It drives my cop neighbors crazy - they not only lock their doors, they have a security system. > > StG We are the cop neighbors, and our doors don’t get locked unless we’re away for more than a day trip. Like you, though, our home security system consists of dogs. The Pyrenees sounds scary, and the Malinois is scary (if you’re a stranger. If he knows you, he’s a big sweet baby.) We also have near neighbors, and keep an eye on one another. Plus, we have the kinds of tools police keep handy. It works for us! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/89 "2013-08-23T13:29:31Z")
When he moved in the door lock was broken. As he lives in a rural community it will take several generations for his family to replace the lock. Pretty sure that’s what the song means. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/90 "2013-08-23T13:36:10Z")
I live ina rear guest house I built 35 years ago. I sleep with the screen closed but the door open not locked. I awoke about 3 am with a police dog standing on my chest snarling in my face and a cop pointing a gun at me. The real robber was in a tree on my patio. I still don’t close the door in the summmer but it was unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602/91 "2013-08-23T17:30:35Z")
Unnerving? HoneyBadger, you have a flair for the understatement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-door-aint-never-been-locked-swear-it-never-will/666602.md?page=4)