Why Would Anyone NOT Lock Their Doors?

[yearbook50]

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.

You are more likely to be raped by someone you know than just some random break in your house rape, sadly I know tis from experience. Did that make me paranoid? Nope. Sadly, the news has made us all way too scared of the world we live in.

When I'm at my apartment in Worcester, I'm careful about things because well downtown Worcester is not safe. Am I scared about a random rape in my own apartment? no. I would be more worried about getting raped wen I'm walking down a street however.

When I'm in St. Augustine, I feel comfortable enough to not lock the door during the day. Then again, I'm not in St. Augustine a lot.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

We don't lock our back door. It's inside our garage, so most of the time, our garage door is down and there's no other way of getting inside our garage (e.g. there's no side door to the garage).

This is us as well. If someone calls and says they are on their way, I will unlock the door.

 

[Morticia]

When I was in college in Denver, CO, we had a problem w/a man roaming the campus & attacking women. Now this was an all girl's college. It was so bad they cut down all the trees & bushes so he would not be able to hide behind them @ night like he was doing. So, one night the door to our dorm was left ajar by someone who was just running out for a minute & would be right back. He made his way across the 2nd floor trying to open every door. Now, I was on the 2nd floor. All our doors were locked. He went up to the 3rd floor. A friend of mine had a problem w/her door. It wouldn't lock. She woke up in the middle of the night blindfolded w/a knife to her neck & was awake during the whole thing. Luckily, he didn't kill her, but just slipped back out. I lock my doors.

 

[taximomfor4]

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.

Warning...happened to my sister a few years ago. She was NOT able to escape. He had her prisoner in her own vehicle all night long. She lived, but she is not really healed...he was never caught.

About windows/doors unlocked...I don't always lock up while home during the day in the summer, because of the heat. We don't have a/c. We are much more likely to get sick from heat than from someone walking in and harming us.

 

[va32h]

I guess I'm not understanding the logic behind "if someone wants to hurt your/rob you, they will find a way, so what difference does it make if you lock the door."

A locked door is not a foolproof protector, but it is a deterrent. A big dog isn't foolproof either, but it is a deterrent. Lots of things, like having adequate outdoor lighting, and alarm systems, neighborhood safety patrols, and not having big bushes in front of your windows are deterrents. A determined criminal can certainly circumvent them all, but at least their presence will buy you time to get out of the house, or call the police, or persuade the criminal to move on to a house that has fewer deterrents.

I could decide that if someone is determined to abduct a child, they will find a way, so there isn't any point in me walking my children to and from school, particularly when it is often inconvenient for me to do so. But I feel my presence, while again, not foolproof, is at least a deterrent. So I do it anyway.

I started this thread because I honestly could not see any benefits to having unlocked doors that would outweigh the potential risks.

Fresh air is not a tangible benefit in my case - we don't have a screen door, and the weather is so humid and breeze-free out here that opening the windows in summer is truly miserable.

Ease of going in and out is also not a tangible benefit to me. We don't do a lot of running in and out, not because we are paranoid or locked in a fortress, but because we like to hang out around our own house. When the kids play in the yard, I go with them, and no, I don't lock the door when I am sitting on the porch two feet away from said door. If we run errands or leave the house for any length of time, we lock the door, which takes me less than 30 seconds to do. My house keys are on the same ring as my car keys, so it isn't as though I have an extra burden in keeping track of them.

For those who do feel those are significant benefits, there's nothing wrong with that - it's the choice you've made after weighing the pros and cons.

I have to admit though, I really cannot understand why anyone would purposely leave doors unlocked overnight. And again - it isn't about why you don't have to - but what do you gain by not locking the door at night? It takes seconds to do, and there doesn't seem to be a downside.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I have to admit though, I really cannot understand why anyone would purposely leave doors unlocked overnight. And again - it isn't about why you don't have to - but what do you gain by not locking the door at night? It takes seconds to do, and there doesn't seem to be a downside.

Wide Open!! The front of the house is always locked but our bedroom is in the back of the house and we keep our french doors wide open this time of the year. With 3 dogs, a gun and the target from my last visit to the shooting range backlit in the window - I feel I'm pretty safe! I mean, really, who's going to come near my house after they see what a good marksman I am!?!

 

[Cool-Beans]

When burglary comes up, I'll talk about the guy who "broke into" my house. But he didn't "break" in, he just opened the door and waltzed on in. The doors and windows were open because I wanted the breeze blowing through the house. My particular criminal happened to be insane. Most crooks go for unoccupied homes.

Few people have break-ins while home. So when you gamble your family's life on the fact that it won't happen to you, the odds are in your favor. I think that's why most people do it. They want the breeze, or the kids are running in and out, or they came in with their hands full and forgot to go back, etc. They don't really think it'll be them. I didn't.

If another one walks (or breaks) in, the chances of them getting out alive alive are slim. Now I have experience and won't be so thrown off-guard by a a big, strange man in the house. I am comfortable with a gun, can shoot and wouldn't hesitate.

Go ahead, punks. Make my day.

 

[Cindyluwho]

When burglary comes up, I'll talk about the guy who "broke into" my house. But he didn't "break" in, he just opened the door and waltzed on in. The doors and windows were open because I wanted the breeze blowing through the house. My particular criminal happened to be insane. Most crooks go for unoccupied homes.

Few people have break-ins while home. So when you gamble your family's life on the fact that it won't happen to you, the odds are in your favor. I think that's why most people do it. They want the breeze, or the kids are running in and out, or they came in with their hands full and forgot to go back, etc. They don't really think it'll be them. I didn't.

If another one walks (or breaks) in, the chances of them getting out alive alive are slim. Now I have experience and won't be so thrown off-guard by a a big, strange man in the house. I am comfortable with a gun, can shoot and wouldn't hesitate.

Go ahead, punks. Make my day.

OMG Cool-Beans, you've GOT to read my book!! hee hee

 

[chasbos]

The only time we lock our doors (all but one because we do not even have keys) is when we go on vacation.

We have never locked our doors and have never really felt a need to do so.

 

[U2_rocks]

Well, I imagine it's a function of lifestyle, how you were raised, your life experiences and where you live (relatively "safe" vs not).

If your lifestyle is one where kids and pets come and go frequently, it's not really practical to keep the house secured during the day. In a high crime area one might have to change one's lifestyle, but in a relatively safe area I see no need. If that's the way someone wants to life, vs shut up in a house with artificial air, then I see no issue. The benefits of fresh air and the freedom of being able to come and go at will are significant to many people.

If you were raised with unlocked doors, you are probably more likely to continue that way unless something in your life has caused you to reconsider.

Obviously your own experiences, like if you've been robbed, or if you've known people who've had it happen to them, or if you are sensitive to what you hear on the news etc. will influence your thinking.

And in some areas the risk of someone walking through your door with malicious intent is so low that it isn't something you necessarily have to be on high alert for. Nothing wrong with a certain amount of caution, but you have to admit that there are high alert areas and low alert areas. But of course the line does get blurred, and who decides whether an area is "high alert'?.

I can see why some people want to feel as safe as possible. And I can see why some people don't want to be locked in their house. I don't understand why each side can't see the other's point of view!

 

[va32h]

Wide Open!! The front of the house is always locked but our bedroom is in the back of the house and we keep our french doors wide open this time of the year. With 3 dogs, a gun and the target from my last visit to the shooting range backlit in the window - I feel I'm pretty safe! I mean, really, who's going to come near my house after they see what a good marksman I am!?!

But that doesn't answer the question. What benefit do you derive from leaving a door unlocked at night, when you are asleep? What is the potential negative consequence of having a door locked at night, when you are asleep?

People have given explanations of why they might want their doors unlocked during the day. But why at night? Presumably the children are not running in and out of the house at night. If the door is shut, but not locked, you won't be getting a breeze anyway. So why leave it unlocked? Is the feeling of a locked door so oppressive that it is worth the potential risk, no matter how small, that an intruder might enter through the unlocked door?

 

[teacherforhi]

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

No, I was answering a question, which I quoted in my post.

 

[katerkat]

I have to admit though, I really cannot understand why anyone would purposely leave doors unlocked overnight. And again - it isn't about why you don't have to - but what do you gain by not locking the door at night? It takes seconds to do, and there doesn't seem to be a downside.

I just don't see any point. I'd just have to unlock it again in the morning. Pretty much, I assume nothing is going to happen. Because the liklihood of someone getting onto the base and picking our house to rob is pretty slim. And the liklihood of being robbed by other military members is pretty slim, too. I've heard of problems on bigger bases, but not here.

I certainly would adapt if we moved somewhere not as safe, but I don't see any point in locking my doors at ANY time of day right here. My front door hasn't been locked in over a year and my back door has never been locked.

Actually, I take that back - I locked the doors for the Air Show that brought 100,000 people on base two years ago, and I'll lock them again this year. Much less security - or, well, different security, as the primary objective is protecting the Air Show.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I started this thread because I honestly could not see any benefits to having unlocked doors that would outweigh the potential risks.

And people gave you their reasons and benefits. But yet you continue to harp on those reasons, saying they're not tangible benefits to you.

 

[binny]

exactly Bob, just because they arent feasible to YOU Vah doesnt mean they arent feasible.


You dont have to understand it, thats the beauty of it.


We lock everything at night or when we're gone but during the day? For all the reasons I stated before, neighbours who watch out for one another and who care about each other, a big dog who WILL bark at strangers, and many more reasons they may not make sense to you but they dont need to

 

[va32h]

And people gave you their reasons and benefits. But yet you continue to harp on those reasons, saying they're not tangible benefits to you.

I said that (not tangible part) in one post. Hardly harping. And at that point, I was posting in response to the people who declared that anyone who locks their door is paranoid and in need of therapy.

And then I posted again to point out that while those might be tangible benefits during the day, they don't seem to serve much purpose at night. Which is a perfectly legitimate argument. The response to that issue - locking doors at night - seems to boil down to "because I don't want to." Which, quite frankly, strikes me as a rather foolish reason, but you're right, it doesn't matter to me whether people lock their doors or not.

 

[cardaway]

People have given explanations of why they might want their doors unlocked during the day. But why at night? Presumably the children are not running in and out of the house at night. If the door is shut, but not locked, you won't be getting a breeze anyway. So why leave it unlocked? Is the feeling of a locked door so oppressive that it is worth the potential risk, no matter how small, that an intruder might enter through the unlocked door?

The only way to be safe in your home is to lock up your family in a panic room every night.

If people were saying that anybody who doesn't install a panic room in their house obviously didn't care about safety, how would you feel about that?

 

[caitycaity]

How do the rest of you keep your doors locked?

for us it is very easy. we are gone the vast majority of the day and we don't have kids. we live in a townhouse so we don't have a yard. we have a patio that we use sometimes when we get home from work, but it is fenced in and the fence has a lock on it.

as i said, different strokes for different folks. if we had kids or were home most of the day, or had a yard, or lived in a safer area... our lifestyle would undoubtedly be different.

teacherforhi, could you please quote the post that said you were at risk of being raped and/or murdered every second? i missed that one.

i did not read mrsltg's post as snarky (the one i am assuming you are referring to on the fantasy comment), but i can understand how it might have touched a nerve.

 

[caitycaity]

The only way to be safe in your home is to lock up your family in a panic room every night.

didn't you see that jodie foster movie??? even panic rooms are not safe!!!

speaking only for myself - locking up does not mean i live in fear. i would never describe myself as worried about my safety or fearful of what could happen to me in my own home. it is just an automatic thing for me. it's not like everytime i lock up i am thinking: "oh now i am keeping out all those rapists that hang out on the corner." i would describe the neighborhood i live in as "safe". there are frequent police patrols and the crime stats are relatively low (especially violent crime). on the other hand, i have had my car broken into a few times (not in our neighborhood), my wallet stolen (at work and in college). dealing with those things - even when they are bnot violent makes you feel victimized and it is a pain to go through insurance and canceling credit cards, getting a new license, etc., etc. having felt that way a few times, it is worth the minor extra effort to me to lock my doors. a few weeks ago someone was shot in the head in my work parking garage...which happens to be in a super safe area and RIGHT NEXT TO A POLICE STATION. if you had told me that would have happened the week before, i would have told you you were crazy.

i do not live in fear, but i do try to practice what i believe to be common sense. i liken locking doors at night to wearing a seatbelt, making sure the air pressure in my tires is correct, putting my neice in a car seat, etc., etc. doing those things does not mean i live in fear of what might happen if i didn't. it just means that it is worth the extra time to me. i understand that it is not worth it to some people. i don't think that means i am need of therapy or that i live in a prison. hardly.

 

[minnieandme]

I always lock my door whether I'm home or not. Growing up in NYC everyone had 2 or 3 locks on the door plus some sort of deadbolt chain. Now if I'm outside working in the yard, I'll leave it unlocked. I guess it all depends on the neighborhood you live in and the feeling of security.