3 ms·
I think that there is an intersting divide here, that meshes nicely to "lock/no-lock", which is mostly attitude/fear based. The no-lock is: "meh, its not worth
by sophacles 17y ago
I think that there is an intersting divide here, that meshes nicely to "lock/no-lock", which is mostly attitude/fear based. The no-lock is: "meh, its not worth worrying that much about" and the lock is: "i must lock my doors, im afraid of being robbed".
Personally I feel locking is partly a totemic ritual, involving more magical thinking than people are willing to admit about it. Seriously ask people why they lock the doors when they have a giant window right next to it, and they say "its safer" and "it keeps out the burglars". Point out the window, and they say "it just works ok".
- idlewords 17y agoThe purpose of locking doors where I live, at least (San Francisco) is to prevent street people from coming in and sleeping in your hallway, and protect your stuff against petty theft by fairly desperate people who will try doorknobs looking for stuff they can quickly grab. Locks are quite practical solutions for both problems.
- sophacles 17y agoFair enough. In the places I have lived (a fairly affluent suburb of Chiacago, and a college town in the middle of nowhere), the hysterical response is very common, probably because there is no practical side to it -- people who want in will break in anyway and mostly everyone else keeps out. Sure there is the occasional drunk college kid who is somehow lost and crashes on the wrong couch, but they are mostly harmless, and very appreciative when you don't call the cops.
- idlewords 17y agoLocation, location, location!
- chaostheory 17y agoNever underestimate the power of laziness. It is much easier to open an unlocked door as opposed to having to either quitely cut open a window or just smashing the window and having to avoid shards of glass and keeping the noise down. That is unless the person didn't bother to lock their windows.