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So I'm watching Bowling For Columbine, the documentary by Michael Moore, and I just got to the part where he is in Canada and he finds out that some Canadians do not lock their doors.
The obvious reason behind locking doors is to protect from intruders... But why don't Canadians do it? One person in the film says that her house has been broken into while they were sleep, but that has not convinced her to lock her doors. It just isn't what they do, culturally.
It seems to be a cultural difference, but I wanted to see if that difference extended beyond America and Canada, and to see the reasons behind NOT locking doors, 'cause I still can't grasp it.
Poll: Do you lock your doors? (Vote): Yes (Vote): No
   
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I wouldn't take anything Michael Moore says too seriously.
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I watched that when I was in grade 6, I think its only a small sample of people who don't lock their doors.
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United States42180 Posts
Whenever I'm out of the house for more than a few minutes at a time I lock my doors. It's just common sense. A lock won't make your life any harder and might save you stuff. It'll also make shit easier with insurance if stuff does go missing.
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I agree with Saturnize. Also of course I lock my doors, trust NO ONE.
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Osaka27130 Posts
Michael Moore is stupid. People lock their doors when they go out. He also interviewed 3 skater punks outside a taco bell, a drunk chick in a bar (who claimed not to lock her door in a spot of drunken self-righteousness) and two high school drop outs in a Michigan pool hall for that movie. It is a joke.
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if ppl get into my house, they could steal my beta key...
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We don't lock our doors.
dunno why really, no one here does it. It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter).
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Its not about country, its about the area where you live that defines your doorlocking habits.
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Canada8029 Posts
I don't know anyone that doesn't lock their doors, to needless to say, I found that particular part of Bowling for Columbine hilarious.
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yup, we pretty much never unlock the doors and we deadbolt them at night
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The real question is, how does Michael Moore fit inside a door?
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I lock (not deadlock) my doors when im inside my house..
EDIT: haha king, gold.
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i live in an apartment complex, i dont lock my door most of the time. i had 200$ stolen from me a year or so ago, but i recovered it. ive had people staying with me comment on me not locking my door; they say its crazy. i guess i just dont think about humanity that way.
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I'm Canadian... I lock the door...
There's a lot to think about, including that if your door is unlocked a thief would think someone was home. But I think overall I'd rather see a broken lock and know someone were in my house (or rather, not see a broken lock and know someone hasn't been in).
Kinda pointless not to lock your doors. Certainly no one in Canada is offended if you do.
It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter). That's horrifically wasteful.
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I don't lock my doors. I find it to be too much of a hassle to unlock them again :/ I only lock my car if that counts.
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United States24613 Posts
What goes on in your house you can be held liable for (depends on region) if you don't make a reasonable attempt to prevent it.... so not locking your door could open you up to a criminal investigation when something that's not your fault occurs in your house. Locking your doors not only protects you from unauthorized entry and informs you of if you had any break-ins, but also protects you from events that occurred in your house during a break in or unwanted visit.
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Yeah i also lock my doors unless I'm going to the store for like five minutes or something.
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Always lock my doors. I also live in an apartment building and everyone I see locks their doors.
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I don't lock the house door if I'm inside and I'm not sleeping. I saw the documentary but I don't remember whether the people were in there when he tried the door.
Now that I live in an apartment with a bunch of guys we almost never lock the door, but we don't really have anything to steal.
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I never lock them... nothing in here to steal.
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United States24613 Posts
Even if there's nothing to steal do you really want people coming in in order to find that out? What's to stop someone from planting a landmine under your bed and then leaving!?
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On March 05 2010 12:59 micronesia wrote: What goes on in your house you can be held liable for (depends on region) if you don't make a reasonable attempt to prevent it.... so not locking your door could open you up to a criminal investigation when something that's not your fault occurs in your house. Locking your doors not only protects you from unauthorized entry and informs you of if you had any break-ins, but also protects you from events that occurred in your house during a break in or unwanted visit.
That sounds unbelievably retarded. Might be that my door can't be opened without a key whether it's locked or not, but still..
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A few Canadians don't lock their doors, so all Canadians must not lock their doors. Hasty generalization, bro.
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That's still a bigger number than 0 americans not locking their door.
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[B] Show nested quote +It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter). That's horrifically wasteful.
Actually not really. Cars use virtually no fuel while idling. When I was having car troubles on one of my previous cars I had to drain the gas tank. So I drove it until it was past E and the empty fuel light was blinking and figured I'd let it idle to run the rest of the fuel out.
Yeah, after leaving it running nonstop for over 24 hours I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. It would use MUCH more gas to let the car cool and then try to warm it up by giving it a little extra gas when you got back.
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On March 05 2010 12:38 Crisis_ wrote: So I'm watching Bowling For Columbine, the documentary by Michael Moore, and I just got to the part where he is in Canada and he finds out that no one locks their doors.
He asked like 80 people, and put into the film only the people who didn't lock their doors.
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My friend's family in TN never locks their door. One time I realized I left my keys in their house, and I was able to go in the house at 3 am and look around everywhere while all of them were sleeping. They're just lucky I'm not Jigsaw or Ted Bundy.
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If I am inside my house, I don't lock the doors, and I don't know any one here who does. I assumed that was his point, that Canadians were comfortable at home with unlocked doors. I've never been to a friends or relatives where I don't walk right in when I know they are home, I will knock at a friends house, but they never have to come and unlock the door, they just open it.
EDIT: I will lock the doors when I go outside, no matter what, and no matter how long, and when I go to sleep, but that is all.
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On March 05 2010 13:03 micronesia wrote: Even if there's nothing to steal do you really want people coming in in order to find that out? What's to stop someone from planting a landmine under your bed and then leaving!?
Ahah... if I died from a landmine in Canada I wouldn't look back. It would be legendary
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dont lock my doors but we live far enough out of town it's never going to be a 'random' break in if it happens so i doubt locks would slow anyone down
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I lock my doors whether I'm home or not, but I know lots of people who don't lock them when they are home and I've got one buddy who's house is never locked.
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On March 05 2010 12:45 majesty.k)seRapH wrote: if ppl get into my house, they could steal my beta key...
Thread.
No seriously, its not hard to lock the door and unlock it later why NOT lock it.
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Norway28582 Posts
well theres a main entrance door that autolocks then 6 apartments inside that, and I don't lock the apartment door unless im leaving for a good while. when i lived with my parents further from the city centre, we didn't always lock the door until me and my friend broke in through a window because I had forgotten my key. I didn't tell my parents and they ended up thinking it was a real break-in, so after that they both installed alarm and absolutely always locked.
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On March 05 2010 13:10 HuskyTheHusky wrote:Show nested quote +[B] It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter). That's horrifically wasteful. Actually not really. Cars use virtually no fuel while idling. When I was having car troubles on one of my previous cars I had to drain the gas tank. So I drove it until it was past E and the empty fuel light was blinking and figured I'd let it idle to run the rest of the fuel out. Yeah, after leaving it running nonstop for over 24 hours I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. It would use MUCH more gas to let the car cool and then try to warm it up by giving it a little extra gas when you got back.
You are completely wrong.
sources - http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/idling.html http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fueleconomy/
Your story isn't unbelievable but you shouldn't use it as the basis for your statement.
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On March 05 2010 13:23 Liquid`Drone wrote: well theres a main entrance door that autolocks then 6 apartments inside that, and I don't lock the apartment door unless im leaving for a good while. Same.
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Osaka27130 Posts
On March 05 2010 12:56 Chef wrote:I'm Canadian... I lock the door... There's a lot to think about, including that if your door is unlocked a thief would think someone was home. But I think overall I'd rather see a broken lock and know someone were in my house (or rather, not see a broken lock and know someone hasn't been in). Kinda pointless not to lock your doors. Certainly no one in Canada is offended if you do. Show nested quote +It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter). That's horrifically wasteful.
Depends how cold it is outside.
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Of course I lock my doors, even when I'm home. Who knows who could come strolling in. It's not particularly something I have to think about, I just lock it out of habit.
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During winter of course my door is always locked to preserve the heat. When it's not winter I don't lock the door when I'm at home except when I'm asleep , but I lock it when I leave home if there is no one in the house awake.
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nope never hadn't really thought about it then again it's just a student apartment, who the hell is going to steal anything here plus someone's usually always home too so
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When the hell was it apparent that Canadians don't lock their doors? I do and always have, along with everyone else I know...
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I lock my door in my appt. But I know friends who don't. I don't see anything wrong with it either way.
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who the hell wouldn't lock their door
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depends completely the kind of neighborhood you live in, and it's kind of pointless to argue. plenty of people out in the suburbs where i live don't lock
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Unless you live in fantasy town, locking your door is like a daily routine. You wouldnt even notice it.
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United States24613 Posts
If you live in an affluent neighborhood like where I lived with my parents then it was a prime target for vacation burglaries.... the 'nicest' neighborhoods make excellent targets.
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I saw this documentary as well and I think Moore was making the point that people don't lock their doors when they are home -- however useless that point may be.
Pretty sure it showed footage of him testing doors and the people inside being all, "wtf?".
So no, I don't think most people lock their doors when they are at home, during the day. At night and when they are out, most people lock their homes.
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I don't lock my door(s) because I can't the two apartments I've lived in the doors wouldn't close all the way or the lock didn't work. The current apartment I'm in the main door doesn't work because it was forced opened. And my room door the lock is like falling out lol. I don't have anything of real value here so it doesn't really matter.
Also Moore is only for the lolz.
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Always lock. Then again, I live at boarding school.
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Always, only one door is unlocked while we are home. When we go out they are all locked.
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My religion teacher (i go to a Catholic school, don't judge!) said she never locked her house or car and nothing bad has happened to her so far
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Just because he interviews ten families does not give it an accurate representation of the whole country.
"What? You are Asian and you don't eat rice?"
Hey all Asians don't eat rice!
Like people said before, Michael Moore should not be taken seriously.
--- edit: to stay on topic, yes, I lock my doors. I lock it when I take a nap, and even tell my roommate to lock it whenever he comes in and I am sleeping.
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With split parents, and a brother, both of us being in our early twenties, there is always, always, a door unlocked at both houses...just incase. nothing has happened wat so ever, but we live in very quiet peaceful neighbourhoods... in canada..
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On March 05 2010 13:23 StarN wrote:Show nested quote +On March 05 2010 13:10 HuskyTheHusky wrote:[B] It's also pretty common to leave your car running while going into a grocery store/other place (during the winter). That's horrifically wasteful. Actually not really. Cars use virtually no fuel while idling. When I was having car troubles on one of my previous cars I had to drain the gas tank. So I drove it until it was past E and the empty fuel light was blinking and figured I'd let it idle to run the rest of the fuel out. Yeah, after leaving it running nonstop for over 24 hours I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. It would use MUCH more gas to let the car cool and then try to warm it up by giving it a little extra gas when you got back. You are completely wrong. sources - http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/idling.htmlhttp://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fueleconomy/Your story isn't unbelievable but you shouldn't use it as the basis for your statement.
+ Show Spoiler +If you want to rebuy the car I sold 2 years ago and do the exact same experiment be my guest. We actually had to do this in two different months (were replacing fuel parts) and we never actually got the stupid thing to run out of gas. My story was actually way dumbed down as it literally would just not run out of gas idling. Maybe I just had some magic car though. Too bad it died. Though I really dont buy the 'a car idling for 2 minutes uses 1 mile worth of gas'. If I'm doing my math right.... 30mpg car would have to idle for 60 minutes to use one galon of gas. That means on a 10 galon gas tank it would be completely out of gas in 600 minutes, or 10 hours? (math might be wrong, I have had very little sleep the last two days) That isnt even close to the real world because even after the gas tank was on E my car was able to idle for over 12 hours nonstop. You can say I'm exaggerating if you want but we did it on 3-4 different occasions. If anyone is curious, we had been working on the car for months and were just ready to buy a new one anyway 
Edit: Woah, just realized this is way off topic. I have always locked my doors and even do when I go to get the mail, whether I'm inside or outside. I dont trust people . I have had many roommates who never lock the door though and its pretty annoying, especially since they have had things stolen from their cars for the same reason.
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I'm Canadian and I have never, EVER heard of anyone leaving their doors unlocked. We left our car doors unlocked but after they got broken into several times I worked it into my grandmother's head that keeping your car's doors locked is a good idea.
Crime here is very, very high though (Abbotsford and Surrey both have extremely high crime and iirc BC has amongst the highest crime rates in all of Canada, so our crime is exceedingly high, especially theft).
What's also somewhat entertaining is that this neighborhood and the last neighborhood I lived in all had houses with underground basements and the majority of the houses were used for grow ops and were repeatedly broken into by people to steal plants. So, yeah, I sleep with pointy objects in arm's length.
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On March 05 2010 13:08 Cloud wrote: That's still a bigger number than 0 americans not locking their door. I rarely locked my door when I lived in a different dorm. (This one locks automatically or I would).
My logic is that if someone wants to steal something from my room, a locked door isn't exactly going to stop them.
I also never lock my car doors. I'm just weird, but I drive really shitty cars to make up for it.
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On March 05 2010 14:40 IskatuMesk wrote: I'm Canadian and I have never, EVER heard of anyone leaving their doors unlocked. We left our car doors unlocked but after they got broken into several times I worked it into my grandmother's head that keeping your car's doors locked is a good idea.
Crime here is very, very high though (Abbotsford and Surrey both have extremely high crime and iirc BC has amongst the highest crime rates in all of Canada, so our crime is exceedingly high, especially theft).
What's also somewhat entertaining is that this neighborhood and the last neighborhood I lived in all had houses with underground basements and the majority of the houses were used for grow ops and were repeatedly broken into by people to steal plants. So, yeah, I sleep with pointy objects in arm's length. I leave my door unlocked and I live in a sketchy neighborhood. Now you've heard of one.
4 years and no problems thus far... But who knows? Then again, you're J-walking for 19 years and one day you get hit by a car.
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I only lock my doors when im not home or sleeping. I always found it weird that people lock their doors when they are home.
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On March 05 2010 14:54 Tensai176 wrote:Show nested quote +On March 05 2010 14:40 IskatuMesk wrote: I'm Canadian and I have never, EVER heard of anyone leaving their doors unlocked. We left our car doors unlocked but after they got broken into several times I worked it into my grandmother's head that keeping your car's doors locked is a good idea.
Crime here is very, very high though (Abbotsford and Surrey both have extremely high crime and iirc BC has amongst the highest crime rates in all of Canada, so our crime is exceedingly high, especially theft).
What's also somewhat entertaining is that this neighborhood and the last neighborhood I lived in all had houses with underground basements and the majority of the houses were used for grow ops and were repeatedly broken into by people to steal plants. So, yeah, I sleep with pointy objects in arm's length. I leave my door unlocked and I live in a sketchy neighborhood. Now you've heard of one. 4 years and no problems thus far... But who knows? Then again, you're J-walking for 19 years and one day you get hit by a car.
True. If someone has the intention of breaking into a house they are probably prepared to force the door open. The only difference would be making it easier for them to enter. =\
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i've seen guys that walk around and just try to open car doors, hoping that one is unlocked. i probably can't say the same about houses but still...
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At night I do. edit: or if I'm not home obviously.
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I'd go to my cousins every other week or so and for the longest time I had noticed that they never locked their front door at all, not even at night. I was just thought "hmm they don't really lock their doors... okay lol" and didn't seem that weird. Plus you think a locked door is really gonna stop someone from breaking in?
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On March 05 2010 15:25 Sephy69 wrote: I'd go to my cousins every other week or so and for the longest time I had noticed that they never locked their front door at all, not even at night. I was just thought "hmm they don't really lock their doors... okay lol" and didn't seem that weird. Plus you think a locked door is really gonna stop someone from breaking in? good point if i was a thief i would laugh so hard after going through all the trouble breaking in and realizing the front door was unlocked -_-
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Always do it. That's what lock is for isn't it?
And I was mugged once at knife point while I was sleeping sooooooo it's kind of a "lock the fucking door next time or you're fucking dead" thingie ...
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i don't lock my door, but it isn't "open" in the sense that you can open it from the outside without a key if it isn't locked. So mostly i'm just lazy :D
(it doesn't have a doorhandle that you can push down to open the door)
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I live in Oakland, so yeah, locking my door is generally a smart idea.
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What kind of person doesn't lock their doors ... that guy who made the documentary is a dumbass lol
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Always lock your door imo, it's always a little embarrassing to have someone walk in.
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man, i thought locking doors in one's house was a given...
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I don't lock my door, even during the day, when I'm out. Only when I leave town I lock my door.
I live in the last stairs of an old building though, so at least there is the frontal door that is always locked.
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