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On a Missouri thread, a gentleman was lamenting that his son had had his car stolen when the son dashed into a convenience store, or something like that-- for a moment, I thought that that thread had morphed into this one. I locked my car as a matter of course when growing up in the 60s, and continue to do so today. My concern for people who live in places where "people don't do that sort of thing," e.g., break into cars or houses, is that there's probably drug activity most everywhere in this country, and that's going to fuel theft.
Why make it easy for thieves? I'll also open my glove compartment and center console when I have to park the car in a dicey area to try and deter someone from breaking a window or cutting a convertible top on the chance that I might have something. When I drove cars with older-fashioned radios that installed in a hole in the dash, I made sure to get a radio with a removable face plate.
Yeah, I hate those trigger happy BLEEPS.
But, Hey, why don't you just help yourself to everyone else's property no matter the inconvenience or hurt you cause them or their families. Just because America is a free country don't mean you can freely take from others. It does however mean that you are free to get your own job and then pay for your own property then spend the time, money, and energy keeping, storing, and maintaining it.
I don't lock my car doors when it's in my driveway...I've never had a problem, and doubt I would start locking them unless something changes. I always lock the doors in my house at night, but not so much at other times. I live in a quiet neighborhood in south Atlanta. I do lock my car anytime I leave it parked somewhere else.
My family was always very conscientious about locking the doors in our house when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. We lived in a far out suburb of a N.C. city where there was very little crime, but (even back then) it was better to be safe than sorry when you have 3 kids in the house.
I live in an apartment. If I go to the corner for a paper or to have a coffee the door to my apartment is usually unlocked. The front door to the building is enough.
A good friend of mine lives in an inner ring suburb of Minneapolis. His door is never locked, and he has never had any problem because of it.
There is also a school of thought that says that people should leave their cars unlocked. Stealing from cars is more common than stealing cars themselves, so you are more likely to end up with a smashed window. If the thief is smart enough to hotwire the car, he is also probably smart enough to unlock the door.
My theory is it's best to lock your car because someone might go around looking for unlocked cars. If your car is locked, the thief might not even bother and move to the next car until he/she finds an unlocked car. I know someone that had his car get broken into (he leaves his car unlocked). He said it would have happened anyway and the thief would have just smashed the window if the car was locked. But how does he know the thief wasn't just looking for unlocked cars?
Rural areas of Louisiana, no. Cities, yes. Even in the 60's. We always did. There was plenty of riff raff back in those days. We called em' HOODS. A hood then was some kind of tough troublemaker or a wannabe. Not what people call hoods today. The neighborhood.
My theory is it's best to lock your car because someone might go around looking for unlocked cars. If your car is locked, the thief might not even bother and move to the next car until he/she finds an unlocked car. I know someone that had his car get broken into (he leaves his car unlocked). He said it would have happened anyway and the thief would have just smashed the window if the car was locked. But how does he know the thief wasn't just looking for unlocked cars?
Yes I know someone who thinks that way too and he has been ripped off (brand new audio and speakers) he just got for Christmas a few years ago. There is no convincing the hard-headed!!!
I don't lock them now. I live in a city of 60,000, and I never lock my car doors. I never lock my apartment doors, unless it go out of town.
There is never anything in my car for anyone to steal, except an empty McDonalds cup and maybe a tire pressure gauge or flashlight. If anybody wants to find out what is in there, I'd prefer they check it out without breaking the windows. I haven't listened to my car radio in years, and the only reason I have one is because it is impossible to buy a car without a radio. Anybody who wants it can have it. Anyone who wants to hotwire my '93 minivan can then pay the junkyard to accept it.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I thought crime was higher in the 1970s, particularly in the cities. The suburbs were probably safer though, I'm guessing.
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