What scares you more?

peachyprice

I was chatting to a friend today about the comings and goings of my 18yo sons. They tend to go out later in the evening and appear at some unearthly wee hour, which is fine, they are good boys and a have never been any trouble and have more than earned their freedom and our trust.

Anyway, she said to me 'Goodness, what on earth do you do about locking up at night?' Well, I never have locked the front door so it makes no difference what time they come in. She locks her front door and leaves the key at the other end of the house in the kitchen

She thinks I'm barmy, and doesn't know how I sleep at night with the thought that we may be burgled while we're upstairs asleep, to which I replied, I'd rather be burgled than trapped in a burning house not being able to find the keys in the smoke and dark, my windows are never locked and the patio doors are locked but the keys left in them for the same reason. She really couldn't see there being any risk of a fire trapping her family.

I know there's no right or wrong answer, it comes down to our own personal fears and phobias, but what scares you more and what do you perceive as being a greater risk? Fire or burglary?

j.e.j.

I live in a flat, not a house so I guess my vote is a bit skewed by that. I think there's greater risk of fire than burglary here. The thought of not being able to escape frightens me more than burglers. I do become more aware of the risk of burglary when I stay at my in-laws house, though, as they all sleep upstairs and usually put the alarm on downstairs before they go up to bed.

Mojisola

peachyprice wrote: »

Well, I never have locked the front door so it makes no difference what time they come in.

Doesn't your contents insurance require the door and windows to be locked?

System

To be honest, in the event of a fire, if i'm in my bedroom...i'd be screwed as the only door is down stairs, as is the only window i could really get out of. I do keep my keys nearish to the door, but thats more because if i dont keep them in one place i will lose them I would never leave the door unlocked, i spent many years in uni houses and had it dilled into me to keep the door locked, the one time my housemate didn't follow this my laptop got stolen and i wasnt covered by my insurance as the door had been unlocked.

pigpen

burglars take 'stuff'.. fire kills people... not a comparison at all really.

Person_one

Surely 18 year olds have their own keys, so locking up shouldn't be an issue? Just leave yours near the door in case of fire.

I think fire scares me more, because I have pets and I know nobody would help them if there was a fire while I was out. However, there has never been a fire in this building and there have been several burglaries, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense...

notanewuser

I don't really worry about either. I worry about somebody stealing the cars, so front and back doors get locked up when we go to bed. Door keys live on the bottom step of the stairs so they're easy to get to should we need them.

Upstairs windows are all closed but unlocked, so if we needed to escape from fire we could get out of any room pretty easily.

loracan1

I think you're both barmy!

I keep the front door locked at night, either leaving the key in the lock (but turned slightly) or next to it, out of sight of the letterbox. Why don't your sons have and use keys?

Torry_Quine

I would be more wary of fire than being burgled as you can't replace people. My door is locked day and night but the key is easy to get even in the dark

geri1965_2

pigpen wrote: »

burglars take 'stuff'.. fire kills people... not a comparison at all really.

Burglars have been known to kill people as well. No way in a million years would I leave my front door unlocked! What about rapists?

Mojisola

pigpen wrote: »

burglars take 'stuff'.. fire kills people... not a comparison at all really.

It's not an 'either or' situation!

loracan1 wrote: »

I keep the front door locked at night, either leaving the key in the lock (but turned slightly) or next to it, out of sight of the letterbox. Why don't your sons have and use keys?

As loracan says - you can be safe from thieves and fire.