Locking Doors

I am reading a rather interesting article in the New York Times by Stephen Webster about people who don't lock their doors, whether they live in apartments or in houses, and the whole debate about security and the likelihood of theft.

I cannot believe that I used to live in a place where locking your front door was not entirely necessary, especially if you were in the house. Summer evenings were ideal for having friends drop by, and as they let themselves in to come join you in a glass of white wine, you could relax knowing that they knew their way around the house.

Buenos Aires is a completely different story. Most people have at least 2, more often 3, locks on their doors. Even if the door locks automatically when closed (standard for almost all apartments), people like to lock themselves in, just for extra security. When you leave, make sure you lock the door two times over. Dead-bolts and complicated locks and endless amounts of keys. It's a nightmare.

Granted, I am all for security and safety. I have heard plenty of horror stories of people getting into apartments, either by robbing the doorman or by pretending to be a maintenance worker, and stealing hefty amounts of personal belongings, or worse. But reading this NYT article just dumbfounds me. How do people who live in New York not lock their doors!?! I mean, I'm no country bumpkin by any means- I guess it's just a matter of having lived here for more than a year, and having it drilled into your brain that everything must be locked, sealed, closed, curtains drawn and heavy wooden shutters let down.

This first paragraph from the article is incredible:

IT’S the lore and lure of bucolic small-town living: The community is so safe, people don’t even lock their doors. But Joyce Weisshappel, a 63-year-old vice president with the Corcoran Group, a real estate company, does not live in a small town; she lives in Manhattan, in a luxury apartment building. And she doesn’t think she has ever locked her door in the 30 years she has lived there — she doesn’t even know where the keys are.

Why would she lock the door, she asks. There are 24-hour doormen, delivery people cannot enter the building unescorted and she’s never heard of a crime being committed there.

We also have a 24-hour doorman and workers are not allowed to just walk in to the building unannounced and unescorted.

Anyway, I'll continue this later. Just found it an interesting way to begin my Saturday.