I don’t know if this is a girl thing, or a young homeowner thing, or what the fuck. But just because you have a garage door opener does not mean you can stop carrying your goddamn house keys. There are all KINDS of circumstances that would necessitate using your actual house key. What if the power goes out? What if an assembly spring breaks? What if your car breaks down, you get it towed, and forget to grab the opener while dropping it off? What if you lose the opener? What if the light switch that powers the garage gets flicked down? What if someone accidentally locks the door going to the garage? What if a tree falls on your garage, and you can’t get in that way? What if someone steals your car?
Jesus tittyfucking christ, ***why ***would anyone not carry a house key? This is the second fucking bitch I’ve lived with who stopped carrying a fucking house key because, “I have a garage door opener, I don’t need a key anymore!” You’re already goddamn carrying a car key and a set of work keys. Keeping that house key on your keyring doesn’t make it noticeably heavier. Just carry the fucking thing.
Agreed. But more importantly, “Jesus tittyfucking Christ” is a beautiful turn of phrase and makes me want to believe that Jesus could indeed tittyfuck Christ.
Honestly, if someone can get into your garage unnoticed, I have a feeling they’re not going to be put off by a locked door. They can shut the garage and have at it with a sledgehammer or sawzall if they want.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t lock the door, but I think the added security is pretty small.
[idiot] Why is keeping the door between the house and the garage unlocked problematic? The garage door can’t be easily forced, and if so, by the time they’ve gone through that effort they’ll have a lot of privacy to work over the interior door. What are we missing?[/idiot]
Note the house is alarmed at night and when we leave, if that makes a difference. There are also attack cats.
Note also that we carry house keys, have a remote panel to operate the garage door in case we don’t have an opener on us, and have a very well-hidden emergency key buried on the property (yes, well-hidden; there are five acres to choose from–it’s not under the flowerpot next to the door).
I would appreciate you not calling my mom an idiot. And I’m pretty sure she would not like the phrase “Jesus tittyfucking [C]hrist”, even if I do.
What is the difference between a garage door opener and a key? Both can be lost or stolen, both can be have a tree fall on the door they open. The only real difference I see is that one is electric so that’s a small problem. Maybe if there was a compartment for a key inside the door clicker, then we could all get along.
I guess I’m only looking at it from the basis of my own garage door, which is stupidly easy to force. So much so I have locks on the rails so it can’t be opened except from the inside (we don’t use it as a garage).
I’ve read instances where garage openers from one big-box company could be used to open other doors from that same company; don’t know the truth of that.
If someone wants to get in your house bad enough, they’re going to get in. I just don’t see any point in making it easy for them.
No insult to any mothers or other relatives was intended.
One isn’t dependent upon an electromechanical mechanism to allow entry into your home, and fits really easily on a key ring so there’s no good reason not to carry it with you.
The silliness is in a person taking a key chain with a bunch of keys on it already (to drive the car) and refusing to put one more key on it. That one time the door opener doesn’t work (power outage, whatever) and you’re stuck. You have to get a locksmith, or bust one of your own windows to get in, all because you didn’t want to carry one extra key.
My parents don’t lock the door between their house and garage, thank God. I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten my key and could only get in through the garage. It was also really handy when I lived there and didn’t have to take any keys because I walked to school. I’d say there was about a 1 in 365 day chance our power would go out so I never worried about that. No one ever locked the door that attached the garage and house so I never needed to worry about that either. Even if I did get locked out, I could just climb the fence and spend some quality fresh air time. They’ve never been robbed.
Except for a carved bear that was on their front porch. If I could find that motherfucker, I’d break his kneecaps. My mom loved that bear.
What if you got robbed and they stole your house key, found your house, and stole all your shit?!! (there’s pros and cons to just about everything)
But I do tend to carry my key with me since I got a vehicle, it really isn’t that dangerous to my car.
I don’t carry a key. The one time the power was out when I returned home I was with the wife, who had a key.
The garage door opener has a coded keypad so only a failure of the opener stands between me and access to my house.
I would probably carry a key if my wife and kids didn’t carry one but if I ever get locked out and can’t wait for them I’ll just have to pay for the broken window.
In 25 years I haven’t had to break a window yet.
Why are you assuming this person has a key chain full of keys? That isn’t the case for me, or several other people I know. 1 fob for the car, that’s it.
Getting locked out of your house isn’t the end of the world. Especially if you can just pop on down to the bookstore while waiting for your roommate to get home.
Locking your smartphone in the house, on the other hand, is cause for getting into your car and driving right through the front door.
This all came about because my live-in landlord just installed a garage door opener a couple weeks ago (I park in the driveway, she just started parking in the garage). Last night, I went out to the garage for something. I locked the door when I closed it, because I always lock doors behind me. Up until now,this door has always been locked and it’s *never *been a problem before. I hadn’t noticed that the door was unlocked when I went out to the garage. I automatically locked it behind me after I closed it, like always.
Then this morning, I received a pissed off email asking why I “locked her out of the house.” But I didn’t lock out the stupid cunt. I locked a door that has **always **been locked, ever since I moved in. She had never told me that the interior door to the garage had to be left unlocked. She should also *fucking carry her house keys with her, *but didn’t because she is a fucking idiot. So, I’m rightly pissed off. If a door absolutely has to stay unlocked, then the lock should be taped open. This is very similar to a drama-induced garage door opener debacle with my last landlord, who should have 1) taped up the light switch controlling the garage door opener, and 2) carried her fucking house keys at all times.
Nothing says stupid noob like pounding on your own fucking front door at 3 in the fucking morning.
If your mom doesn’t carry a house key, she *is *an idiot (although if she lives alone, at least she isn’t making her negligent idiocy somebody else’s problem). The several differences between a door opener and a key are enumerated in the OP, but the primary reason is that a key is manual while a garage door opener is *electric–*that difference is not trivial. There’s no reason not to carry both. (There’s also the problem that most people stick the opener in their car and don’t keep a spare on their person.)
I stated in the OP that this person has a set of work keys (she operates a restaurant). Both my current and former landlord (store manager at a gas station) did.
Also, at this residence we have lost power 4 times in the less than a year I’ve been living here–once for nearly 5 days. It’s not an unheard-of occurrence whatsoever.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a spare key hidden in the garage? Then they could lock the door and still admit people who are supposed to be able to get in.
I have a grand total of three keys (house main door, car, office). The car one is bulky (it has a remote built in), and I also have a mini-flashlight and a pouch for two thumb drives. It all fits on one ring quite nicely.
I think the idea that leaving the door beween the garage and the house unlocked is ASKING to be robbed is just silly. I mean, some badass has broken down my metal heavy duty garage door, in plain sight of the street. Now he is inside my garage, somewhat out of view, with multiple tools handy. (my garage is where my tools are, duh)
Right off the top of my head I can think of 3 items in my garage that would bust a door frame down. There is a sledgehammer, an ax, and a 3 foot pipe wrench readily visible in my garage.
Locked or not, that entry door ain’t stopping no one.
BUt, to the OP’s point I do carry a key just in case. So there’s that. But the door between my garage and my house? Unlocked, yes it is.
It doesn’t have to be full of keys, you carry 1 key for your car, you can successfully carry 2 keys on that ring. I speak from experience with my ex-BIL, who had terrible key habits and got himself locked out of places on a fairly regular basis.
Normally, when we discuss these things, it’s managing a trade off. I make choice X that may trouble me at some point, I can generally point to the benefit of X to justify the risk. When the benefit of X is to have 1 less key on a key ring, I have trouble seeing how it justifies even the remotest of inconveniences. It’s not exactly a millstone hung around your neck, it’s tiny key.
I can’t imagine why anyone gives a damn why other people would or wouldn’t carry a key. In a very specific instance like the one the OP brings up, sure. In other, more general scenarios… who gives a flying fuck? Maybe they have a hidden key somewhere? Maybe they have a battery back up for the garage door? Who cares?
(1) car key, other car key, my house key
(2) grocery store key tags, mom’s house key, my house key
(3) van key, my house key
If I’m “traveling light,” such as going for a run or carrying a very small purse, I just take the section(s) I need. Otherwise the whole thing is in my usual ginormous purse, or my pocket. So I am frequently carrying THREE house keys. Oh the horror!