photo courtesy of StopnLook on Flickr
Changing behavior isn’t an easy thing. However, I received an email on Tuesday that immediately called for a household policy change. No more leaving the keys for friends in “strategic” locations in the front yard.
My longtime neighbor T. was expecting a guest Monday night. He hadn’t arrived by bedtime, so T. left the key for him in her mail box, right beside her front door. She went upstairs to bed. Less than 20 minutes later, the guest was out on the stoop but the keys were not in the mailbox. Puzzled, T. went downstairs and let him in. She then discovered someone had let themselves in with the key–and left with a laptop, camera and purse, and of course, her keys.
We’ve both lived on this street long enough to watch the gentrification process. We’ve got great neighbors. We live on a busy street. However, unfortunately, you never know who is watching — and how vulnerable we can make ourselves.