People speak wistfully about the days when they never locked their house and things were just fine, but these days, especially in urban areas, I find it amazing that people would still do it.
Back in the 70’s living in rural VA we generally didn’t lock our doors, and even in a small town in the 80’s we didn’t (it was a nice old house, but the back door lock didn’t work, lol.) But just last week I found that a family member living a nice neighbourhood in a city didn’t lock their door. This is a person that has valuable collections all through the house.
How many of you know people that still don’t lock their doors? (by the way, for security’s sake don’t name yourself and don’t be too specific, just general numbers and what sort of area they live in.)
I was living in a house that had no air circulation and when it got hot, whoa man did it ever get hot inside. There were no windows to open on the side of the house that got any breeze, but the front door happened to be there. So I left the front door open, the back too, so the breeze could pass through. For a while my roommate and I would close the door when we left. Then eventually that even stopped. So not only was the door unlocked it was open all the time too :eek:
Man I hate that the door in my place now locks automatically. I would much prefer to leave it unlocked.
I don’t lock my doors. I never have.
The windows are made of glass and the walls are wood. That door lock ain’t stopping nobody. If they want in, they’re getting in, so I might as well make it so they don’t break windows or knock holes in the wall if they’re coming.
Now there’s a theoretically good strategy. Leave your doors open so that burglars assume somebody’s home! If your door is closed they’ll assume you’re gone or you have something to protect.
This person/house is a disaster waiting to happen. The time to lock up is now not after a breakin and theft of all that is near and dear to the owner.
I’ll not be specific.
Some do some don’t.
Why do you think gas stations, fast marts, churches, schools, general stores, etc. etc. have all kinds of security cameras, etc. etc.
They are known to be prime targets for the lawless elements of society. If there is any prospect of making a haul sooner or latet it will take a hit.
I sometimes don’t lock my apartment door, but there’s an outer security door that locks automatically. If I’m running an errand and know I’ll be back in a few minutes I don’t bother locking up, relying on the outer door. Kinda dumb on my part I admit but oh well.
I know a guy who never locks his doors, even when nobody’s home. He lives in a little neighborhood a few miles out of town.
I always lock up, even when home, and I have an alarm system. Long ago, I knew a thief. He said his favorite kind of work was daylight burglary. “When you don’t have to break anything to get in, the neighbors think you’re there to deliver or fix something,” he said.
Yes but if they do things like break windows and knock holes in the wall those are signs of forced entry. If there is no sign of forced entry insurance companies have a very good argument not to pay out.
I use the regular doornob lock when leaving for the day. My partner is a bit obsesive and locks any lock he can find even if he is home. I can’t stand it the worst is when he locks the screen door that has no key for the outside and hides in his room listening to music.
I’m really bad about remembering to lock my doors. Drives my father crazy. I have never, anyplace I’ve ever lived, locked the doors when I am home. And I almost never remember to lock the doors when I go out during the day. And I quite often forget to lock them at night when I go to bed.
I currently live in York County, Virginia, where I’ve lived for 5 years – 3 at this house, and 2 in another neighborhood. Before that, I lived for 9 years in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Penasquitos. Before that, 5 years in Norfolk, Virginia, in three different neighborhoods (1 near Five Points, 1 near Ocean View, 1 off of Little Creek Rd.). Before that, 2 1/2 years in Sicily, 1 living in the barracks and a year and a half in an apartment in Motta Sant’Anastasia. Before that, 3 1/2 years in Rhode Island – 1 year in the barracks, and a year and a half in an apartment building (2 different apartments in an old house that had been converted to apartments). Before that, Navy A-school barracks and Boot Camp, and before that, I lived at home. The only places where I locked my doors were the Navy barracks – those doors locked automatically, so I had no choice.
In all these years and in all those places, there has never been a home breakin or burglery in my immediate neighborhood – not even in any of the dicier areas.
We never locked our doors growing up in rural Louisiana. As a matter of fact, we didn’t even have keys to one of the houses we lived in. When I was in graduate school in Vermont, I not only didnt have a key, I didn’t even know the house address and never could figure it out.
My parents always bragged about that fact to outsiders and not only left their door unlocked but left the keys in the car. One night someone didn’t realize that they weren’t in fact family and stole both cars from the driveway and wrecked them 30 miles down the road.
Now I deem anyone that doesn’t take free insurance a retarded fool and I have no idea why you would pass up such a basic precaution that costs nothing.
I have one for you. Not only did we not lock our doors growing up in rural Oklahoma, but we didn’t have keys to the doors. We couldn’t have locked them if we had wanted to.
I’ll do you one better. Until after I graduated high school, my mother never took the keys out of her car ignition.
n a related story, as high-schooler running around drinking beer in the middle of one winter in the late 70s (1979 -1980ish?), a friend of ours wanted to hop in with us to drink some beers but his battery was shot, and he didn’t want to turn off his engine because he didn’t want to have to jump start it.
Our friend parked his pickup on main street, left the engine running and hopped in with us. We ended up going to a neighboring town, going to an all night party, and rolled back in the next morning at daylight. There was his truck, parked on main street, all toasty warm and waiting on him where it’d been running all night.
We have to lock our back door because it’s broken and doesn’t stay closed if it’s not locked - the front door is left unlocked during the day, but locked at night or if the house is going to be left unoccupied for any length of time… started doing that after some fella turned up on our doorstep at midnight (yes midnight) to deliver some furniture… err, we’ve not bought any furniture and why are you trying to deliver it at this time of night?
Sure, I always lock it when I go out, but one day I was over at a girl’s apartment, and realized she had locked the door while we were inside. It blew my mind because it would have never occurred to me to lock my door while I’m actually home.
We always locked our doors in suburban NJ. We still had our house broken into. y aunt and uncle, living in the same town, once had people breaking in while they were known to be at home.
By contrast, Pepper Mill’s family never left their house locked, and never had a problem. Of course, they were far more rural than I was. They’ve since moved, so life is different.
When I was in college, non-University people used to take things from unlocked dorm rooms. I got in the habit of locking my dorm room. This was in Cambridge, MA.
Years later I was in Salt Lake City, Utah – which I would’ve regarded as a pretty safe city. I kept the office door locked, but my office-matye didn’t, and somebofdy swiped two of my calculators. (Not his, I notice). I’m still pissed.
Here in Colombia, everyone locks their doors. Windows usually have bars on them too. Mine do! My door locks automatically when I go out, but I can turn the lock two more times for double locking and I can lock the top lock also. My doors and windows are quite secure when I am out. We cannot take any chances here.
Lived in upstate NY for years and never locked the doors. Moved to a mid-western cityish place and thought locking the doors was a good idea. Got the Sinkids keys, which they were forever losing. About 6 months goes by with no lost keys, so I congradulate Sinkids on “being responsible.” Sinkid the younger says, “Oh, we don’t use the keys anymore. We unlock the sliding door in the basement before we go to school now.” :smack: