Do you leave your car/ house etc unlocked? Has the choice you make to lock or leave unlocked changed through the years or based on your geographical area?
We always lock our doors and vehicles. We lock our back gate. We live in the suburbs of Phoenix. When I lived in Los Angeles, I always locked our doors.
One time, I came home from work and the police were in the street searching for someone. I noticed the back door on my garage was open. I went in to look around, but stopped when I got a creepy feeling. I backed out and told the police that the door was open. They went in to search. They pulled a man out of my garage. He had been standing right by the door. He had a gun. He had been breaking into houses that day.
Los Angeles is not a safe place to live.
@ladybarbara that is scary! I have ptsd and I think it causes me to be hyper focused on locking doors, but now that I’m in a metropolitan area I do so even more.
Chicago is worse than it is im the burbs where i stay currently. Occasionally you can get away with not locking up during the day in the burbs if you’re home… but at night you definitely need to do so.
Most of the places I’ve chosen to settle in are places where most people leave their doors unlocked, particularly if they are at home. Some don’t bother locking them even if they go into town to check the mail or get a bite to eat.
Most locals, particularly in the off-season (it’s a tourist area) don’t lock their cars. Some even leave the keys right in the car.
But of course times change — and not towards the “community trust” end of the spectrum. There’s lots of reasons for it, most very complex.
But I think a lot of it starts with people either not being able to get over a breach of trust — or even just a fear of not being able to get over a breach of trust.
Another of the things I truly value about my Spiritual Christian lifestyle, is that it provides active solutions for forgiving and learning to trust again, but in a way that’s tempered by an understanding of deep human nature.
My aunt and uncle always told me to lock the door as a kid, and it just stuck throughout the years. Will probably stay that way since it just feels right. Someone left my house once and didn’t lock it. A dude came and walked into the house, freaked out saying that he thought it was his friend’s house who is next door, and just took off over there. Was crazy, so yea, I keep it locked. Blinds also always stay down. I really wish I could get to a point where it felt ok to open them, but I just don’t think it will reach that point.
7 responses to “Unlocked”
We always lock our doors and vehicles. We lock our back gate. We live in the suburbs of Phoenix. When I lived in Los Angeles, I always locked our doors.
One time, I came home from work and the police were in the street searching for someone. I noticed the back door on my garage was open. I went in to look around, but stopped when I got a creepy feeling. I backed out and told the police that the door was open. They went in to search. They pulled a man out of my garage. He had been standing right by the door. He had a gun. He had been breaking into houses that day.
Los Angeles is not a safe place to live.
@ladybarbara that is scary! I have ptsd and I think it causes me to be hyper focused on locking doors, but now that I’m in a metropolitan area I do so even more.
Chicago is worse than it is im the burbs where i stay currently. Occasionally you can get away with not locking up during the day in the burbs if you’re home… but at night you definitely need to do so.
Most of the places I’ve chosen to settle in are places where most people leave their doors unlocked, particularly if they are at home. Some don’t bother locking them even if they go into town to check the mail or get a bite to eat.
Most locals, particularly in the off-season (it’s a tourist area) don’t lock their cars. Some even leave the keys right in the car.
But of course times change — and not towards the “community trust” end of the spectrum. There’s lots of reasons for it, most very complex.
But I think a lot of it starts with people either not being able to get over a breach of trust — or even just a fear of not being able to get over a breach of trust.
Another of the things I truly value about my Spiritual Christian lifestyle, is that it provides active solutions for forgiving and learning to trust again, but in a way that’s tempered by an understanding of deep human nature.
There is an old adage: Lock it of lose it.
Then there is this:
My aunt and uncle always told me to lock the door as a kid, and it just stuck throughout the years. Will probably stay that way since it just feels right. Someone left my house once and didn’t lock it. A dude came and walked into the house, freaked out saying that he thought it was his friend’s house who is next door, and just took off over there. Was crazy, so yea, I keep it locked. Blinds also always stay down. I really wish I could get to a point where it felt ok to open them, but I just don’t think it will reach that point.
Not so much, though my current neighborhood is pretty safe.
And, yes, risk involves where one is at…