Do you lock your doors at home?

[nadine_mn]

Either while you are at home or away?

If people know where you live - heh I understand why you won't answer.


I don't lock my doors - whether we leave the house or if we are in.

Now I have to say we live in a suburb north of Minneapolis and we own 2 large dogs (and a very fierce kitty) - so not really in a dangerous area.

The not locking when we leave is usually just laziness - because we usually have stuff to bring in from the car and dicking around with keys is a pain in the ass.

My mom always locks her door - even when she is home. She lives alone though - but we did when I was growing up too. We lived in a small town in northern MN for most of my childhood (with detours to Louisiana and Vegas) and my grandparents always left their door unlocked (well except after 11 pm when they went to bed - but we all knew where the key was).

My fear of locking myself out of my house (which has happened both when I was younger and later in law school - I soon became adept at breaking into my own place rather than pay the fee to have the landlord open the door) is greater than my fear of someone coming into my house.

Just curious what other DUers do

[Skittles]

1. ALWAYS

I don't wait until the local axe murder to start locking my doors heh heh

[zanana1]

2. I do now.

Nothing is really new in my neighborhood, but I think just watching the news is making me paranoid. I remember reading that a woman is safer on the street than she is inside her own home, due to the rise in domestic violence cases. I'm safe in that instance, too. Maybe it's just age that locks the doors at night.

[madinmaryland]

13. Scheduling the local axe murderer for an ass kicking.

:D

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. Don't bring your ass-kicking boots to an axe fight

:hi:

[tigereye]

3. yeah, but I live near the city

when we were kids growing up in a small town years ago people never did unless they went away on vacation or at night.

[Iggo]

4. Goddam right, I do. (n/t)

[zen_bohemian]

5. lock the doors, lock the cars, lock the doors when I am inside or outside the house

and I live in the northern plains too. Alot of people I know don't lock their doors either here.

[madrchsod]

6. no...

i have a dog that goes for the throat...anyway i do`t have a key to any of the outside doors or the garage.

my parents never locked our doors either

[murielm99]

49. I thought you guys were locking up over there in

Ronnieland now that you had all those burglaries. We are locking up over here. So many of the people in town are indignant about it.

I have always locked up. I live on the highway.

[old mark]

7. We lock all the doors to everything we own - the car, house and storage shed,

even have padlocks on the gates to the back yard.

I don't know where you live that locking up is optional, but it ain't around here...


Also sleep with a pump 12 guage shotgun next to the bed.

mark

[TreasonousBastard]

8. I lost the keys...

if they can find this place and really want to get in, both highly unlikely, I'd rather they just walk in than smash their way in.

[mopinko]

9. hubby does,

i hate to. despise locks and keys. despise not being able to walk through my own doors a million times so that a thief can't walk through them once.

[raccoon]

10. Always do, and when I was a kid, my mother always did too (1950's, 1960's).

I can see why she did, we didn't have a man in the house, just a woman and little kids.

[Bertha Venation]

11. Yep. n/t

[Brickbat]

12. I've lived in places where I have, all the time, even when home, and in places where I haven't, even

when gone for days.

If someone wants to get in my house, they're going to get in my house. Fortunately, they don't know what's waiting for them. :evilgrin:

[elocs]

14. No and yes, yes and no.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The old lady across the street from my door knows more about who comes to my house than I do. Locks are to keep honest people honest, and if they want to get in, they will. I once was locked out without my keys and a good butt bump popped open the door.

I refuse to live in fear, either of locking myself out or of someone unknown coming in.

[distantearlywarning]

15. Oh yes.

Lock them whether we are in or out. We also set a security system when we go to bed at night, and if I am home by myself during the day.

This is not entirely paranoia. It would be hard to live in a more "urban" neighborhood than ours - while not overtly dangerous, it is a bit transitional, and serves as the border between a truly atrocious inner-city neighborhood (think third-world country, projects and gang warfare, no joke) and a really fancy inner-city neighborhood (think million-dollar historic mansions). All the property crime in the city passes through our neighborhood on its way to being committed, and home invasion robberies are not uncommon in our area.

I love living in the city, and I even like my neighborhood, but this is unfortunately one of the downsides to urban life.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. yes.

[tanyev]

17. Yep. I even lock the doors on my car when I hop out to fill the gas tank.

[Phentex]

18. Hell, I lock my bathroom door!...

I hate being surprised by anything anywhere in my house.

Petty theft is very common here. Mostly people stealing out of cars (no one seems to want my library books or reusable bags, lol) but I don't lock my car.

We have two big dogs but we lock the doors at night. If somebody wants in, they'll get in. Still, I wouldn't make it too easy for them.

Where I grew up nobody locked anything.

[Iggo]

20. I lock the bathroom door, too...

...but it's only so nobody accidentally sees my butt.

[hunter]

21. If the "Beware of Doug" sign doesn't scare intruders off, Doug will.

For the persistent, HC SVNT DRACONES (here be dragons)

It's possible nobody has ever ventured in far enough to see if the doors are locked or not.

[Kali]

22. hell, I can't even shut a couple of my doors

the front door has a huge teddy bear holding it shut and blocking the draft at the bottom - the antique latch broke and I haven't ever gotten around to taking it apart again to see if it can be welded or another small part made for it (or duh, putting some kind of modern handle on it)and one of the kitchen doors has similar problems. Bottom line even if we could, nobody would hear the breaking glass or see a vehicle/plate so why bother? Not to mention there really isn't much here to swipe - want my 5 year old cheap desktop and fading crt monitor? 70's era stereo? didn't think so - why not take one of the many broken down vehicles instead?:rofl:


I employ this same strategy (crappy material goods) in vehicular choices as well - once I broke down in Mexico and had to leave of a van on the road in a somewhat sketchy area overnight - had a battery stolen and the wing window broken to get at the radio - I could tell they started to take it but then realized what a cheap POS it was and left it:rofl:

[nadine_mn]

31. our advantage is we have the poorest looking house in the area

a run down house next to a bunch of McMansions - I swear thieves are tempted to leave us some of their haul out of pity

there are advantages to having crap

[grace0418]

23. I live on the north side of Chicago. Not a super dangerous neighborhood but definitely

leaving a door unlocked would be akin to putting all your valuables on the sidewalk with a sign that says "free to a good home."

[blueknight]

24. never

i dont even think i have a key. but what i do have is a 100 pound german sheperd with bad intentions!

[Broken_Hero]

25. I always lock the

doors when I leave the house. If I'm home though, I never lock the door unless I want to do something in private. :)

My father/mother in law lock there doors 100% of the time...I swear, if they leave to go empty the trash, they lock their doors...

[cbdo2007]

26. Yes, we have a baby in the house.

I feel very safe in our suburban neighborhood but with a baby in the house I just feel like we can't be too safe. It's such a small thing to remember and to do, and I know the likelihood of anything bad happening is very very slim, but it's worth the small amount of effort to me. If there was someone wanting to do something bad, hopefully the locked door (along with the very large, super scary dog) would give them enough encouragement to move on to someone else.

On another note, I can't wait to get up to Minnesota again. My family visits Grand Marais ever year and I spend the rest of the year missing it. :)

[Inchworm]

27. Not usually- ever

I, too, have dogs. They would probably greet a visitor and show them in :)

If school is out and I plan to be gone all day or more I'll lock them. There are a couple neighbor kids that wouldn't steal so much as be curious.

:hi:

[nadine_mn]

32. our dogs would probably lick them and show them where the treats are

At least a german shepherd and large black lab mix look and sound fierce - but if someone gets past that, then they are all love and cuddles

[Deep13]

28. Lock 'em when we're away or asleep. nt

[WinkyDink]

29. HELL, yeah!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. Oh yes, we sure do lock our doors...whether we're here or not.

We always have, as did our parents.

And we have an alarm system. No telling when that's going to be on...;-)

We have a pretty safe neighborhood, and of course, any thief who really wants to get in could do so, but we just want to make it difficult for him/her to do so.

[proteus_lives]

33. I always lock the door.

At home and when I leave.

I think you should lock your doors before it bites you in the ass.

[Arkansas Granny]

34. Most of the time when I'm gone, but not when I'm home.

I sometimes forget to lock the back door when I go to bed at night. I live alone in a very quiet neighborhood and my house doesn't look like it would contain anything of enough value to warrant breaking into. The times I've had things stolen from my house(in a different neighborhood) the doors were locked and it didn't stop anyone from getting in.

When I was growing up, we lived out in the country and never locked the door. We went on a family vacation one time and really had to hunt to find the door key so we could leave it with a neighbor in case of emergency.

[Mugu]

35. Yes, I keep the doors and ground floor windows locked.

If you want to get shot by me you're going to have to earn it.

[LuckyTheDog]

36. I live in Detroit

What do YOU think?

[Monique1]

37. May door is always locked

whether during the day or night and I live in a gated apartment complex and live on the second floor. My door is actually double locked 24/7. We did have an incident here when a guy climbed the gate and found a door that was unlocked and raped the woman ---- no way. Management sent out a letter to keep doors locked at all times and close your windows at places someone could enter. I do that but do keep one window open because whenever anyone comes to my porch my dog comes to get me. I guess, I don't trust people that much anymore.

[MorningGlow]

38. I live in friggin' Mayberry, so no

Oddly enough, I do lock the front door when I leave the house, but I leave the back door unlocked. Not sure why, except that we just had the back door put in last fall, so maybe I still have to get used to it--? Truly, I don't really see the point, as the old plank basement door, reached through the bilco (storm) doors, is open more often than not, plus we have the old long windows in the living room (the ones that reach almost to the floor), so if someone really wanted to get in, they could.

However, there are eyes everywhere in my village and I'm on one of the main roads, just a block away from the fire and police departments, so it would be pretty stupid to try to break in.

Still, it's a mindset more than anything else. True story: When we first moved in, our neighbor introduced himself to Mr. MG and told him within seconds that if we ever had an emergency and needed to use his pickup, to go ahead, as he always leaves the keys in the ignition. And Mr. MG wasn't very clean-cut at the time (had long hair and always wore t-shirts and ripped jeans).

[VermeerLives]

39. Yep - always

We also have alarm, two dogs (a shar pei/boxer mix and an Aussiedoodle), and we're well armed. Husband is former navy SEAL. I feel well protected. :)

[blaze]

40. Rarely

Well, the front door is, generally, locked all the time.

The back door... not even sure if I have a key for that door anymore.

Fenced back yard. Two chows.

I don't really worry about intruders. :)



or

[TorchTheWitch]

41. insane where I live not to - at ALL times

I also wouldn't live here if it weren't for having this big mean dog that hates everyone but me.

I lock myself out frequently. Well, not in the last few years since I screwed a decorative brass hook right next to the door that I trained myself to always always always hang the keys on. Nice place to hang the dog's leash, too. Before that, i was on a first name basis with the local locksmith. Even still, it was worth it to have to pay him all those times to get me back in the house rather than ever risk not locking the door.

Must be nice to live somewhere where one would have the option of not locking the door... a grew up in that kind of environment, but not so anymore.

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. Yes, for various reasons.

We live in Mayberry, Deep South rural area, in a town of 6,000, most people assume homeowners are armed.

Anyone I do not know is NOT allowed in the house, and usually not allowed to leave their car.
Most people are also afraid of a fierce acting dog.Since few people around here train their yard dogs to be civil,
there is a good chance of being bitten.
Thus I am happy to have a loud barking watchdog.

Overall, I feel safe going anywhere at anytime, but am alert around the isolated house and property.

The front door latch does not catch and the cat opens it from either side, so I use lock to keep door closed.
Same with side slider, the damn cat can and will shove that heavy door open.
Don't want the cat to let door open or else the dog will wander away.

I lock front doors when Mr. d is off the property, since it is hard to hear from one end of the house to the other,
if I am out back and someone comes to the front. We live at end of long driveway, not visible from the neighbors.

We lock doors with dog inside of house when we leave property. He WILL deter anyone from standing on the porch.

We lock doors at night, we are sound sleepers, dog isn't.

And like most people around here, the neighbors have a key and we have a place for a spare key so we do not lock ourselves out of house.

I have always locked my car, out of sheer habit of living in many cities.

Sign of the times: car break ins are on the rise, as is burglary of barns, tool sheds, hardware stores.
Few home invasions as of yet.

btw, most people around here say they used to NOT lock their doors, now they do.

[dimbear]

43. Absolutely. It takes a few seconds to fill your hand and

chamber a round.

[GoCubsGo]

44. Yes, not that I have anything anybody would want.

I have no fancy jewelry, and my electronics are all at least five years old, if not much, much older. Even my cats are ancient.

I confess, however, I don't lock the door from the house to the garage. The garage overhead door is electrically operated, so it's pretty damn difficult to get into my garage. I just have to be really careful I don't drive off with the overhead door up. Been there, done that. That being said, I do have a key safe with a spare key inside.

[femmocrat]

45. Yes. There have been some break-ins around here.

Even out in the country, such things do happen. We keep the doors locked at all times.

[Flaxbee]

46. Absolutely.

Habit, having lived alone in both LA and NYC as a young, single woman.

Now, we live in a seemingly safe rural area, but I still do it - even though if someone really wanted in they could break the glass on the door.

[quakerboy]

47. Yes, but I didnt used'ta

My wife is a compulsive locker, so we do it now. Plus we live right off a busy stretch of road, in an apartment complex that has had previous issues with theft and vagrant squatters. Plus a short list of untrustworthy people who for one reason or another now have my address. So even if it were just me, I would probably lock anytime I didn't happen to be present and awake.

But it was not always so. I used to live right on 82nd(any portlanders around know what that means, for others, my first night there, we had a police chase through the back yard. there was a pot grower on one side, a brothel on the other, and a very shady car dealer behind) and I left my car unlocked. The house as well. I know that people riffled through the car on occasion, but they never took anything I needed. The only time anything I ever needed was stolen was when I locked it up.

Its easy to not lock when you are a large male with nothing to steal. Mo money mo problems. Luckily I inherited one of those electric locks, so I dont have to carry a key. That makes locking tolerable. I hate bundles of keys that you have to carry around.

[SOteric]

48. Since the day my home was burgled

my doors, my windows, and my small fireproof safe are locked at pretty much a constant.

[shanti]

50. yes, always

when i'm inside or out. it's a habit i've had ever since a break in 13 years ago. i even lock my bedroom door, and i'm the only one here. i don't like surprises.

[nadine_mn]

51. I am the opposite - I leave all the doors open inside

even the bathroom (well either when I lived alone or now that I am married). Maybe I want to see whats coming - I have always hated having doors shut around me. When we got our dogs they just pawed at the door like we disappeared so it became habit to leave them open.

[PJPhreak]

52. Nope, But...

I live in a town of 103 people,of which 101 are armed with enough firepower to give the military fits (the exception being my household,we do not do firearms),there are about 40 cars and trucks here,we all know who drives what,I have to big dogs that just LUBS Scarletfyre (My S.O.) and would have no problem taking a slug for either one of us and the two most valuable things here are my 5 year old Sony Lappy and my Mt Bike.

Take the 'puter,take the lawn mower,hell a thief would be doing me a favor by taking my 26 Y.O Yota with 192,000 miles...But touch ScarletFyre,My Honda Trail 110 or my Mt Bike and one would wish it was the KGB that was confronting them!

[travelingtypist]

53. No.

I live out in the middle of kind of nowhere, about four miles to the nearest town. Have been here three years. I tried locking the door the other day and the bolt doesn't fit into the door jam anymore.

[NewJeffCT]

54. I live in the 3rd safest town in America

at least it was rated as such within the past few years....

However, I still keep the exterior doors locked at all times, both when I'm home and when I am away. My father was a locksmith until he retired a few years back, so it's kind of a habit for me.

[NV Whino]

55. I think the only time I have locked my doors

in my adult life was when I lived in Alameda. So in SoCal, no, and where I am now (27 years), no.

My landlady, on the other hand, locked my door when I was in the nursing home. Having gone to hospital and then on to the nursing home with only the clothes on my back and my Blackberry, I had no keys with me. A friend brought me home to pick up some things and we found ourselves locked out with the old bastard next door (landlady's husband) not answering his door. Took my friend all of 5 minutes to break in. Not much point in locking, not to mention the fact that you have to find my house first if you want to steal anything.

[rrneck]

56. Yes, if I'm not there

because there are guns in the house.

If I'm there, no. Because there are guns in the house.

[Lucian]

57. Hell yeah.

I would never be stupid enough to leave my doors unlocked.

[GreenPartyVoter]

58. We didn't when I was a kid, but I got in the habit of doing it in college.

[Roon]

59. I only lock up after dark

I leave it unlocked as I am in and out all day. I have nothing of value in my apartment,by design.

[Old Troop]

60. Seldom lock the doors. When we do, the neighbors know where

we "hide" the key so they can borrow stuff if we're not home.

[Chan790]

61. Nope.

Well in my apartment I do because the door automatically locks. But growing up? My mother once said:

"If they're so determined to get in that they managed to get past the motion detectors, the alarm system, the steel gate and the 10' brick enclosure wall, there is no way a 1.5"-thick steel-reinforced door with a deadbolt and a full-length picture window is going to stop anybody. I doubt they're very concerned about Carrie (our big loud f**king aggressive Black Lab) either."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

62. I live in NYC.

[nadine_mn]

64. so I take that as a yes - you lock your doors?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

65. Lol. Yes. I mean who doesn't here

[iris27]

63. Absolutely. The doors are only unlocked while we're going through them.

Locked when we're here, locked when we're gone. The gate to the backyard is also locked, after some asshole cut through our backyard and left it open, and our dog ran off the next time we let her out (got her back, but still).

Someone got shot on the next street over a couple months back, and two guys running from the cops cut through the backyard just two houses down.

I don't even open the door unless I know who it is. But I'd probably do that in a much nicer neighborhood too; I'm just a hermit.

[kentauros]

66. Whether in the 'burbs or the city, I (and the rest of my family) have always locked up.

In the USA, most will say it's because of "security" and that's mostly the same with me. However, I have tried to get the concept across to people in other parts of the world (like Australia and England) about why we lock, and there is one that finally sinks in: privacy.

It's one thing to lock up in the city for security, but even when your neighbors are akin to family because they are great friends, would you still want your doors unlocked if you and your SO are being intimate? Or if you're in the bathroom? ;)

[emilyg]

67. Always.

[Kat45]

68. Absolutely. n/t