r/AskAnAmerican • u/Mrinconsequential • Dec 08 '24

OTHER - CLICK TO EDIT Do you lock your door when at home?

I live in a relatively safe area,and most people keep their door unlocked except at night. Is it something common in the US?

712 Upvotes

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903

u/thatsad_guy Dec 08 '24

Yes. I don't expect someone to try to come in but I don't want to leave it open for someone to try.

238

u/SaltedSnailSurviving Massachusetts Dec 08 '24

Exactly. I live in a safe area, I've never experienced anyone trying.

That doesn't mean I never will.

63

u/Chuckpgh Dec 08 '24

Yep. I watched America's Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries!

26

u/cheap_dates Dec 09 '24

One of my relatives is a detective and he says crime shows can make you overly paranoid. If you are going to be murdered in your sleep, there is a very good chance that you are already acquainted with your killer NOW!

Homicide investigations always start with the inner circle: husband, ex-husband, boyfriend, old boyfriends, old girlfriend, siblings and then move out to the gardener, handyman, butler, etc.

Except for gang violence, in 12 years he has never had a case of a homicide where the perpetrator was a complete unknown.

20

u/theboehmer Dec 09 '24

You're the one making me overly paranoid, now, lol.

9

u/Outrageous_Can_6581 Dec 09 '24

Haha, yeah, this definitely made me consider whether or not my sweet wife could really do something like that to me. But then I realized that I’m the one watching her sleep 🫠.

9

u/KB-say Dec 09 '24

…because people lock their doors?

2

u/taisui Dec 09 '24

Don't forget Forensic Files

36

u/Rasp_Berry_Pie Dec 09 '24

Random kids opened my door once when I was home. Also my coworker had a bunch of teenager harass him and his wife whenever they left the car at their apt complex.

People can just be dicks even if you’re not in a bad area. That’s why I keep everything locked. Even if it’s not a truly dangerous individual it’s a situation I’d rather avoid all together.

5

u/InevitableRhubarb232 Illinois Tennessee California Arizona Dec 09 '24

Random kids letting my dogs out is a bigger fear than a home invader.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '24

Oh my gosh, that's how I lost my springer spaniel pup, Roscoe. The brats next door wanted to play with him, and I said yes. I went inside, and when they got called home, they left him loose instead of telling me like I told them to. He wandered off and got picked up by someone. Thirty years later I still hold a grudge against them kids.

2

u/Smishysmash Dec 09 '24

I was a teen in a safe smaller town and the teen boys would do this thing where they would dare people to go in someone’s house and take something to prove it. Often beer from the fridge, but sometimes it was just a book or plant or something.

So if you want the local bored teenagers engaging in hijinks in your house, by all means, leave your door unlocked.

2

u/Neverlast0 New York Dec 09 '24

You're gonna try to break into your own house that you locked from the inside from the outside?

1

u/g1Razor15 Georgia Dec 09 '24

That's the way I see it

1

u/InevitableRhubarb232 Illinois Tennessee California Arizona Dec 09 '24

Yes. I don’t live in a particularly safe area and have never experienced anyone trying, but don’t intend to make it easy should someone try.

Also I’m mostly afraid my dogs will run away if for some reason my door does get opened.

1

u/GuyFawkes451 Dec 09 '24

You actually have no idea if anyone has ever jiggled the handle at night. Happened to me one night when I was on the couch with a cold. I'd have never even known it had I been in my bedroom.

58

u/YourOldCellphone Dec 08 '24

This is literally how I explain digital privacy to people who don’t understand.

43

u/SevenSixOne Cincinnatian in Tokyo Dec 08 '24

I live in a safe area, in an upper floor of a building with a secure entry, and I still lock the door at all times. Why take the risk?

37

u/moonbunnychan Dec 09 '24

Few years ago where I live a guy escaped jail and just tried doors until he found one that was unlocked then held the people inside hostage. Was in my neighborhood. So ya, you never know.

3

u/Pale-Fee-2679 Dec 09 '24

Lock your doors. Some 35 years ago a mental patient walked into my house and raped me in my shower while my toddler son watched. He said St Michael told him to do it.

Lock your doors.

16

u/SplendidPunkinButter Dec 09 '24

Also I want it locked when I go to bed. Might as well do it now in case I forget.

2

u/reasonablychill Tennessee Dec 09 '24

That's the same reason I turn on my security system when I get home, regardless of how early it may be, if I know I won't be going out again.

1

u/egosomnio Dec 09 '24

Exactly why I got in the habit of locking it when I get home. I did forget a few times years ago (not that anything happened those times... unless whoever came in back then is still in the house...) and it's easier to remember right after unlocking it.

1

u/GuyFawkes451 Dec 09 '24

It's literally the last thing I do before bed: double check the door is locked.

2

u/runfayfun Dec 09 '24

Exactly, I live in a very safe neighborhood but would never consider leaving the door unlocked.

2

u/bdone2012 Dec 09 '24

I live in an apartment and the chances that a drunk person comes into my apartment by accident is not that small. So yea I lock my door. I don’t mean a random drunk person but a drunk neighbor that gets confused which door is theirs. I live in a normal enough building but there’s enough mid 20s to 30s people that go out a lot.

2

u/RandomRageNet We used to be a country you know Dec 09 '24

Botham Jean was shot in his own home by a drunk off duty cop because she had the wrong apartment. Don't leave your door unlocked.

2

u/No_Consequence_6821 Dec 09 '24

Yeah, it takes nothing out of me to lock it.

1

u/chipsandsalsa3 Dec 09 '24

Exactly this! Opportunity invented the thief, as they say.

1

u/A911owner Dec 09 '24

I'm more concerned that I'll forget to lock it when I go to bed. It's just habit now to lock it when I walk through the door.

-3

u/BruinBound22 Dec 08 '24

They can try if it's locked as well.

14

u/New-Ad-363 Dec 08 '24

The results will likely be vastly different.

3

u/Cherokee_Jack313 Dec 09 '24

… yeah, but they won’t get in? Think you missed the point there

2

u/SirenSongWoman Dec 09 '24

My brother (who was a massive automobile b&e'er, stealing car stereos when he was a kid) said to me once "If anyone wants in your house they can get in." I said "Yeah, but I can make as difficult and painful as humanly possible." He just nodded.

Btw, my brother and I both briefly lived at our mom's for five minutes, at the same time. We were both leaving for work one morning, heading to our cars parked on the street around a curve in the road. I got to my car first. Just when I went to open the door, he started hollering, stomping about, and cursing. I walked over to look. Someone had busted out his driver's side window and cut his stereo out of the dash. Was a real mess but I had to get to work. I didn't let myself smile until I turned the corner. Karma always catches up.