Why Would Anyone NOT Lock Their Doors?

[PlainJane]

It's not very safe to drive with the doors unlocked. You know those things called stop lights and stop signs well occasionally people on the side walk will deside they want to rob you or steal your car. This happend to my youth pastor. He's a very strog man so he was able to wrestle the door away from the man and managed to get it closed and sped away, he now locks his doors. He doesn't know exactly what this creep was up to he didn't stick around long enough to find out. I think the thing that botherd him the most was his wife was in the car. This happend in broad daylight. Why take the chance?

If we have a party going on or something like that then the doors are not locked, but otherwise they are. It's a very simple procedure That I don't mind doing. My friend never locks his car doors. It drives me insane. Especially in parking garages were not a lot of people are around someone could just walk in your car and set up camp in the backseat until you get back, or just hotwire it what ever floats their boat. Enough bad stuff happens that we can't prevent, we can at least take these simple precautions.

 

[becka]

I think maybe some people are not understanding. I do not lock myself and my family in the house. If we need to go to the mailbox or out in the backyard we unlock the door and go out and when we come back in we lock the door. If we are leaving our yard we lock the door - for example if we are taking a walk around the block we will go ahead and lock the doors.

I feel safe in my neighborhood and in my yard but I just prefer to keep my doors locked when we are in the house. I don't think we need therapy. I don't live in fear that someone is planning an invasion of my house. We are not hostages to a locked door. We don't really open our windows while we are home due to allergies...nothing weird abou it I don't think. I would love to have them open some to let in fresh air if it did not result in lots of people with watery eyes and sneezing in my house.

 

[caitycaity]

You know those things called stop lights and stop signs well occasionally people on the side walk will deside they want to rob you or steal your car.

this is exactly what happened to me when the guy tried to carjack the car i was in. he was crossing the road at a red light and then ran up to the car door (unlocked). fortunately no one else was on the road and no one was in front of me so i just ran the red light. as i mentioned before this was in a quiet suburb in central ny in an area where pretty much everyone i know leaves their door unlocked (including my parents when they lived there) because the crime level is so low.

 

[Divamomto3]

we don't have a garage, so no need to worry on that front, but dh got on me the other day for leaving house keys in my glove compartment. i didn't even think about it until he pointed it out, but he's right. especially since we've had our car broken into a few times over the years.


dc metro area


is te snarky attitude really necessary? different people have different comfort levels based on where they live and their personal experiences. so what? no one here has posted that they are afraid of being murdered at any moment.

snarky? Ha! My comments are not directed at you at all. And are you trying to say that the band of folks who obsessively lock their doors haven't been just ever so slightly snarky and insinuating that the rest of us are naive, uninformed, misled, or just plain stupid? I can cut and paste also.

 

[teacherforhi]

is te snarky attitude really necessary? different people have different comfort levels based on where they live and their personal experiences. so what? no one here has posted that they are afraid of being murdered at any moment.

The snarky attitude comes from the fact that there are people on this thread that are absolutely horrified that some of us don't feel in constant fear of our lives while sitting in our homes or riding in our cars. We've been taken to task for the simple fact of OPENING our windows (the horror!). Although I have to admit, with the 90% humidity we've been experiencing this week, I've been putting the central air to good use.

My car doors lock automatically, so I can't do anything about that. If the weather is nice outside, both the front and back doors are open and the Kitten Trio runs in and out at will.

I don't understand why someone would live in an area where they were afraid to unlock their doors.

 

[Crankyshank]

I have my AC on because pollen makes me miserable. I don't lock my doors during the day if I'm home. I actually don't know anyone around here that does. If anything my dogs alert me if someone is walking up the street by barking so I'd have plenty of time to lock my door or call 911 if someone suspicious was coming up my driveway. I do lock my doors at night though.

I don't use my garage for my cars (too small) and my vehicles are all locked in the driveway

ETA: my doors lock automatically in my car and they are usually locked in the truck. not because of safety reasons, although it's a good idea when I'm driving to work especially, but because of how I have my arm on the window when driving.

 

[caitycaity]

I don't understand why someone would live in an area where they were afraid to unlock their doors.

i don't live in constant fear, but i just don't see why people wouldn't lock their doors. different strokes for different folks though i guess.

as for where i live, i live in this area because it is the only place i can work successfully in my current industry. even in the nice neighborhoods in this area (dc) i would never leave my house unlocked.

i haven't seen snarky comments from people about those who leave their doors unlocked, just comments that people don't understand why people wouldn't lock their house. i might have missed the snarky comments since i haven't been reading all that carefully - feel free to point them out.

 

[katerkat]

I understand why people like CaityCaity would lock their doors.

I personally don't. Didn't even lock them when we were gone for two months. We live on a military base and it's pretty safe. I guess something COULD happen, but no one has been murdered in housing or a house been robbed in 10 years. (On our base.) Our doors are a PITA to lock and with Russ trying to run every chance he gets, it's annoying for me to stand there and try to lock it while he's trying to escape. (Though I'm sure if I lived somewhere where it was necessary, I'd adapt.)

 

[allie&mattsmom]

i haven't seen snarky comments from people about those who leave their doors unlocked, just comments that people don't understand why people wouldn't lock their house. i might have missed the snarky comments since i haven't been reading all that carefully - feel free to point them out.

I agree with caitycaity on this. There seems to be a definite pattern of the snarkiness. Like she said, if I'm wrong and I missed some posts, please point them out.

Here's what I don't get! Who cares what others do? I posted to this thread just in a friendly manner saying what I do and why I do it. I seriously don't give a darn if some people don't lock their doors and windows at night when going to bed like I do. Whatever. Their lives. Do what they want. But why some of the remarks about the fact that I do lock my windows and doors when I go to bed? . Why should people really care that much? I've not said one bad thing about anyone yet I've had a couple not so nice remarks which I've tried to ignore. Who cares people! Do what you want and if people want to lock up their homes, let them without making them feel like they "need therapy" for it.

 

[WhoopyPie]

I'm sitting here (in my unlocked house) absolutely FLABBERGASTED that people sit inside their locked houses all day long. Tell me where you all live so I don't ever make the mistake of moving there. In New England, we don't need AC all the time so on a breezy 75 degree day, all the front doors and back doors and windows are open and the curtains are blowing in the breeze. When I saw this thread, I thought the OP meant people that go out and don't lock their doors. But to sit inside with the doors locked?? I'm looking outside right now and the 4 front doors I can see all have their wooden doors open and the screen door closed. Even if they locked the screen door, once slice of the screen with the knife the intruder is going to kill you with would be all it would take. So when I go out to skim the pool, I'm supposed to lock up like I was on my way to Disney World? What about my neighbors all sitting out on their decks right now? They could be murdered at any moment!!! I'd better warn them!

You said exactly what I was thinking. I couldn't handle being in a locked prison um I mean house all day long. To live like that is nuts to me.

 

[Ub_Iwerks]

Why would people admit on a public internet site that they do not lock their doors? Even if you don't use your real name, it isn't that hard for people to figure out who you are, especially if your user name is one that you use in more than one place. And once people know your last name, it can be EXTREMELY easy to find out an address.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I live in the city of Chicago. We never lock our doors during the day when we are at home - only at night.

Additionally, if I am walking to the corner grocery or bar, we often leave the backdoor open so we do not have to bring keys.

I also love the fresh air from all the windows and doors being open.

Since there are always people around, I feel safe.

 

[GoofieRuthie]

Because I have 3 kids that run in and out. I'm not going to get up every 2 minutes and open the door. Once all of them are in for the night the door gets locked. We don't leave it unlocked when we are asleep or gone.

 

[sameyeyam]

Live in the country. Have a big dog that barks if someone even looks like they want to come up our driveway. Have No Trespassing signs and security alarm signs, as well as several guns. Go ahead - make my day!

I have two kids, a husband, a learning disabled brother in law, 2 dogs & 1 cat! I would spend my entire day running around locking doors (and locking everyone out!). How do the rest of you keep your doors locked?

 

[sameyeyam]

Why would people admit on a public internet site that they do not lock their doors? Even if you don't use your real name, it isn't that hard for people to figure out who you are, especially if your user name is one that you use in more than one place. And once people know your last name, it can be EXTREMELY easy to find out an address.

It would also be EXTREMELY easy for me to blow their head off with a shotgun when they try to enter my home!

 

[teacherforhi]

i don't live in constant fear, but i just don't see why people wouldn't lock their doors. different strokes for different folks though i guess.

as for where i live, i live in this area because it is the only place i can work successfully in my current industry. even in the nice neighborhoods in this area (dc) i would never leave my house unlocked.

i haven't seen snarky comments from people about those who leave their doors unlocked, just comments that people don't understand why people wouldn't lock their house. i might have missed the snarky comments since i haven't been reading all that carefully - feel free to point them out.

Well, so far, I've learned that I live "in a fantasy world" and that I could be raped and/or murdered any second. To me, that's pretty snarky.

 

[Luv'sTink]

Our doors are locked when we aren't at home and at night but not when we are home during the day. Our 3 kids are going in/out all day so it wouldn't be feasible to keep them locked then.

This is me too!

When DH and I got married he always locked everything. He is from Vancouver Canada and said the crime was bad (they lived in a good area) so they always locked up, it used to drive me crazy!!

 

[snowwite]

On the "do people just walk in your house" thread, several people apparently do not keep their doors locked, hence people just walking in their house.

And recently, there was a vicious murder in our area, and the police noted that the victim did not usually lock her doors.

Okay - why would anyone purposely leave their doors unlocked? Even if you live in the safest city in the world, what possible harm could come from locking the door anyway? What benefits are there to having unlocked doors?

I lock the doors when we go to bed and when we are away but when we are here they are open.My folks live in Maine and never lock the doors. The lock sticks so we leave a key in it. If I lived in a big city I would lock up.

 

[yearbook50]

read my post below

 

[allie&mattsmom]

Well, so far, I've learned that I live "in a fantasy world" and that I could be raped and/or murdered any second. To me, that's pretty snarky.

What is the point in making statements like this? Are we bored today?