Friday, April 07, 2006

The Open Door Policy

I'm just checkin'......
I'm not sure my experience here is the norm.......

I lived in that little house on Morgantown Road,
5 houses from Smith Valley Road, for over 18 years.
I cannot remember locking the doors to that house.......EVER!
I'm not sure my folks even had keys to lock the doors,
had they wanted to.

In the summer, the front door was always open so whatever breeze there was could blow through the screen door, unlocked of course........even at night.

Sara Jean and I chose to live where we live now, partly because the atmosphere here is similar to what I grew up with......we seldom lock our doors, knowing that suspicious folks lurking around will be noticed by neighbors and reported to authorities.
I know, however, that if I lived in a less rural setting I'd certainly be locking my doors, even if I just stepped out to get a loaf of bread.

Do you lock your doors every time you leave home?
What was your experience when you were growing up?

3 comments:

the golden horse said...

Same here, no locks in the Valley, even keys left in the cars. I think we locked the door when we left on vacation.
Nowadays, because of so many meth users, I keep the doors locked during the day while I am at home. They will walk into your home with you there, no fear. And it isn't just the big cities now, the countryside of Kansas, Nebraska, etc, are rampant with meth labs. They feel safer to have their labs, feel no one will bother them.
We have even had people come to the door wanting to use the restroom, or take a shower, they just want access to your bathroom and any drugs you might keep. The safety of the 50's as we knew it is gone. Sad.

Carol said...

When we first moved to Indiana from Tennessee, we lived with my Aunt and Uncle on Petterman Road (house is still standing). Dad bought a house on Smith Valley Road, a small house called the honey house. The people who had lived there before sold honey. (House has now been replaced by the Home Depot). That was in the 40's when we moved there. Boy does that sound like a long time ago.
It didn't even have locks on the door. We lived there until 1954 and then Dad bought some property with a really old home, off of Fry Road. In 1956 he had finished a new house for us at the front edge of the property right on Fry Road. He put pink and white stone on, must have been on sale. We lived there through our school years. Dad used the rest of the land to build all my Aunts and Uncles a home, They were: Hunter, Bunch, Williamson, Callis and McCarthy. Growing up with all your family living around you - we were never able to get by with much at all. We didn't have to lock our doors because our Aunts would make sure they knew exactly who was coming and going and made sure Mom knew too. That was not a good thing for my brother - if Mom and Dad would have had to unlock the door to let my oler brother in, (after his nights out with Mickey, Herb, Dennis & the others) he may not have survived. He would coast into our driveway with the lights off on his car and quitely get in the house. Our bedrooms were downstairs and the few times I was awake and caught him, he would bribe me to not say anything to Mom & Dad. Oh the good ole days and the memories.

the golden horse said...

Carol,

Oh yes, I remember your brother well, had many great times???
Good to hear your history. He and Mickey were riots.