Thursday, February 27, 2003

The Danger

You know how in small towns everyone's like "Oh we don't even lock the doors!" It's like a big deal.

Well guess what, bitches? We live in Chicago. There's crime. There are robberies. People break into houses. So why help them out and leave the doors open? This is why I've been less than cheery at the fact that I continually come home and both the front and back doors are unlocked and no one around inside.

Maybe you've never had your house broken into. I have. It's one of the scariest things in the world to know that some stranger has been going through your things, taking what they want, and discarding things that won't get them money. It makes you feel completely vulnerable.

Which is why I care about keeping my house safe here in Chicago. The only reason we got things back when our house was broken into the first time is because my parents had insurance. I don't have jack. But I do have a lot of nice things, as do my roommates, that I wouldn't want stolen.

But apparently this fact is lost on them. Whenever people go smoke on the back porch, invariably they will leave the door unlocked when they come back in. I know the cigarettes probably kill off some brain cells, but how tricky is it to turn a key on your way inside?

What's more frustrating is watching it happen. Sometimes I'm sitting in the living room, watching TV (OK, I'm often sitting in the living room watching TV but that's not the point...), and others come in, and take their shoes and coats off and sit down, or go into another room or something...AND THEY LEAVE THE FREAKING DOOR UNLOCKED! Or if someone is sitting there on the couch, people neglect to lock the door when they leave, thinking that that someone will most likely always be sitting on the couch.

I know. We're all sitting right there. But we're not going to be sitting there forever. Sometimes people go downstairs. Sometimes people go to bed. And I know I'm the only one who always checks the doors. Let's say I get home really late at night (which often happens...). If someone else comes home while no one is in the living room, 75% of the time they won't come and see who it is. They just assume. (I say "they", and I include myself. I never get up to see who's there. But that's not the point. I always lock the door, so I know it must be someone who lives here.) So what if some vagrant comes in looking for warmth and finds himself a couple of TV's? And decides to take them with him to make a little coin? No one would notice. It's probably just me upstairs banging things around, right?

I don't think I'm being unreasonable. And I won't lie and say that I've never forgotten to lock the doors. I have...like if I've come in with my hands full or or the phone's ringing or something. But it's such a consistent thing with them that I find myself checking the doors every time I walk by. Sometimes I'll make a special trip just to check them. If I'm in bed, and I hear other people come home, I'll wait until they go to bed, and then I'll get up and make sure we're locked in.

It's not fair for me to feel unsafe in my own house.