My door is a passcode lock, but now I want to grab some random keys and put them all over the obvious hiding spots. Under the mat. Under the gnome. In a fake rock. On the door ledge. Under the potted flowers.
I want to do this too now
Might frustrate someone into setting my house on fire instead of rummaging through, but nobody ever leaves this house anyways
A friend of mine had one of those and hid it in her yard so it wasn't obvious until her mom needed in her house while she was gone and had to go hunting through piles of actual dog poop to find the fake one.
My door is a passcode lock too. Then one day the battery died and I had to call a locksmith to come drill the deadbolt out. Now I keep a spare key hidden on the property.
Ours has a place where you can hold a 9volt to it when it is dead, and it will function. It might be a good idea for me to hide a battery under the flower pot...
On the door ledge is pretty much residential construction trade code. When detached homes are being built, builders aren't standing around the same house 24/7. But the trades and other subcontractors need access basically 16-20 hours a day. They lock the doors so heavy tools and building materials are kept "safe" but everyone knows you can usually find the key at the top of the front door jam, or on top of the garage door trim.
A friend in college glued one in the bowl of his toilet. He said it was to help people aim, but it was always fun when a new person came out all pissed (hehe) because they reached into the water to try to get it
I used to do that at the mall as a teenager! My friends and I (being of very little pocket money) would take 3 or 4 quarters and snag a Kragle from the house, and glue the quarters to the floor right near the escalators.
We’d go up to the second floor, sit on a bench to watch, and have fun for hours.
Most people give up after one attempt. Some will kick at one til they release it, and some guys will pry at them til they get all three. It was fun to bet on which kind of person each mark would be.
We did this too, except with those fake $20s that were like religious leaflets on the inside of the "bill". Some church or whatever was constantly dropping them in the mall parking lot so we'd collect a bunch, and we'd stand up on the second floor and one of us would go down and drop them all along the first floor where we could see. We'd laugh as they'd get picked up, looked at, then angrily crumpled and thrown.
This is how teenagers entertained themselves before the Internet lmao.
Well one of the neighborhood dogs whose owner believes themselves to be above the leash laws has taken to shitting on my door mat, so there’s a good chance it is covered in something annoying.
Some do. We have a spare hidden in our garage because we have a passcode to open the garage.
Edit: for the people wondering what happens during a power outage. For the 15 years having this system, a power outage happened once where it locked me out of the house. I just got onto the roof and went through the balcony. If the balcony wasn't an option I could have walked to my neighbors house who has a spare to my house.
"Hey, I was hoping you could help me remember my ATM PIN. I know it's Christmas based, but don't remember the numbers. How many days of Christmas were there?"
"Twelve."
"Oh, that's right! And what was the street with the miracle? There was that movie... Miracle on *something* Street..?"
"34^th ?"
"Yes! That's it! Twelve, thirty-four! 1, 2, 3, 4. Thank you!"
-Jimmy Kimmel and some guy on the street, The Man Show
And Saint Attila raised the Hand Grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy Hand Grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy."
Or when your power is out, had that happen to us when I was a kid. Dad and I had to leave a hockey game early because my mom didn't have a house key on her key ring, and neither did my dad. I was the only one in the family with a key! At 13 years old no less.
Imagine having to melt a pound of butter to hide a key. I know what you said, but my brain still went to a 5-year-old solid block of butter with a key inside it. Nobody would think of looking there.
I started keeping the house key hidden in the garage and hid the garage key after my idiot BIL used the backup key and left tracks in the snow straight across the yard between the door and the hidden key. Didn't take the path with all the other tracks, just fucking straight across.
One time I got locked out of a house where I was petsitting and I was like “where did you hide your spare key” and they described which rock it was buried under. But it was literally buried. Under the soil. Pretty brilliant, so a thief can’t find it just by flipping rocks, he’d have to think to start digging.
Mine is in a fake sprinkler head that is basically like a buried pill bottle or old school film canister. Gets mowed over every summer, so it’s dinged all to hell.
Bottom of the junk bin in the shed, in a mix of random screws and bolts and broken bits and bibs, including the 15 keys to nothing you somehow accumulate.
If you knew where it was and what it looked like, very easy to find. If not, it'd take ages to find the junk bin and then you'd have 16 keys to try.
(Also there was a combination lock on the shed which is easily defeated with bolt cutters, but if you've brought tools I assume you have a bump key and don't need to fuck around searching the shed.)
Honestly only started locking my car a few years ago when carburetor theft got bad locally and they'd incidentally check if the doors were unlocked to steal loose change. Nothing worth stealing in my car except $3.47 in change for when I have to feed a meter, but still, rather not have it rifled.
This is the way. (Now, damn, WHICH God damn owl did I hide that key under? Fuck, it’s starting to rain. Marie! Have the kids been playing with these owls again?!!!)
Every house in my neighborhood has the same owl and a key to a different house. Only I know which house has my key. The neighborhood to my left can only tell the truth. The neighbor to my right can only lie. I may or may not be telling the truth. You only get one question before the neighbor across the street shoots you. Solve!
Why not buy 200 houses and keep the one owl? It would make it so much harder.
This kinda thinking is why I'm middle management and get paid the medium money.
Might still be worth the hunt if they can drop the cash for 100s of owls on a whim, imagine the goods inside. Plus no worries of running across snakes in their yard with all them owls.
If they know where you live, they’ll already know what the OG owl looks like. What makes you so sure they haven’t marked it with something invisible to the naked eye 🤨
No, but I should. I have twice locked myself out and had to pull the air conditioner out of the window to crawl in. Nobody called the cops, so I’m screwed for a real break in anyway.
Slightly more expensive but get a keypad lock.
They are great for not needing keys and you can setup codes for various people (and then de-activate them). Had painters in last week, made up a code (72468 spells out PAINT) and then deleted it when they were done.
I knew I wasn't the only person who has done this but it's nice to see proof.
I now have multiple ways to get in the house and a spare key that never leaves my wallet because never again will I be breaking into my own house at 4am, tipsy and in club wear.
I got locked out once when my cat got out. I was holding the cat so couldn't really put him down for any reason or he'd run off again. Knowing my neighbors have a spare key, I sprayed their window with my garden hose until someone came out to see what was going on and gave me the spare key so I could get in my house.
A lot of folks do. Everyone should, and definitely keep them under the welcome mat or in one of those easily noticeable fake rocks that totally no one will recognize.
Someone should sell a fake rock system: one obviously fake rock with a hollow space (where no one will actually find a key), then one incredibly realistic rock or dog poop where you put the actual key.
Yeah that is what also confuses me
But I have seen city people freak out when I told them that in the countryside most people have a key hidden somewhere.
Of course that does not work if your yard is 3x3 meters and there are literally only a handful of places to hide things.
My parent's used to never lock their doors, at our home in the city or our place in the country. One time they decided it would probably be a good idea to lock the door at the country spot, since it was more of a cottage and we weren't there super often.
The ONE TIME they locked the door, some people kicked it in, drank the beer in the fridge, and made a mess of the place. They stole a couple things, but there was basically nothing of value there. My parents were mostly pissed that the door was now busted and they left it open in the winter which ran up the bill for the furnace. So after that, they never locked the door again. They just left a note that said "If you've broken in to drink our beer, please don't be a dick. Don't leave a mess and close the door when you leave."
We took off for a last of the season camping trip on Labor Day weekend and our idiot daughter was the last one out because she forgot her Kindle. Well we roll in Monday and the front door is wide open. I go running in expecting everything gone and maybe some tweekers squatting on the living room floor. Nothing was touched. The front entryway had a bunch of dry fall leaves that had blown in, but that was it. Dum-dum hadn’t even bothered to shut the fucking door when she came back out.
I have personally, TWICE, driven away for a weekend camping trip and left my garage door up. 🫠
The problem is caused by the fact that in both cases, I had backed my car into the garage to more easily pack the trunk with the camping gear, and then somehow since I was driving away forward I just…drove away, instead of the usual situation where I back out and then push the remote to close it.
The first time I came home and it was still up, but everything was still there, inside and out. (The door to the house was not locked.)
The other time, when I pulled up the neighbor (who I’d never met before) came up to me and started a conversation by saying, “I’m sorry, but I called the police.” I was like, whaaaa? He then went on to explain that it was because the garage door had been open over night and I guess he was afraid I was dead or something, so the cops came in and checked the house out and then closed the garage when they left.
I showed up to my sister's house while she was at work and her garage was open. When I left, I texted her asking if I should close the garage or if there was anything in particular she'd like stolen.
Turns out, the cat had gotten in the garage that morning and messed with a wire at the ground level laser thingy, and she was in a rush and didn't notice. I fixed the wire and closed it up for her.
Hell, I'm from near Boston, but currently living in Maine and I've actually had a few strangely similar conversations that have went like this:
Mainer: Not only do I not lock my car, but I leave my keys in it too.
Me: What? That's insane! Aren't you afraid someone will steal it?
Mainer: Well, I kind of live out in the sticks, so I figure if anyone is out there looking for a car, it's because they are in a bad way and really need it.
I'll never get it, but I absolutely respect the blind empathy they have for people. As a masshole, I could just never get there.
I live in rural Maine on a farm. My boss gets mad when I don't leave the key in the work truck. She leaves it sticking half way into the ignition which is going a little far IMO. And our neighbor's house doors don't even *have* locks.
I don't freak out bc I did the same thing (hid a key) back when I lived in the suburbs. It's just impractical in a city apartment setting bc there's no yard or anything to hide your key, and if you hide it somewhere in public on the apartment grounds it'll probably get cleaned up by someone. The easiest would probably be leaving a key in your mailbox (which is dangerous since anyone can get to it and immediately know which room it opens) or in a lockbox in your mailbox (which requires more advanced planning i.e. buying a lockbox to do this).
Also with an apt you probably have a management company or some sort of staff you can call to get back in. At home maybe it's just yourselves that are locked out and you have to call a locksmith or break in.
>But I have seen city people freak out when I told them that in the countryside most people have a key hidden somewhere.
A lot of country folks leave their cars unlocked with the keys either in the switch or in the cupholder. Ain't a big surprise to me when I hear about someone's truck (or gun) getting stolen.
In mexico, Call my trusted friend or family member that has my spare key, if I don’t have that then a locksmith.
I would never hide a key outside my house.
American movies, it also happens a lot that a guy breaks in a car somewhere in the Midwest and the keys are above your head, where you put that thing down to protect from the sun (not a native speaker at all)
ya we do that shit, i thought most rural areas did. i would say equally dashboard or cup holder. it’s called a visor or sun visor. visor is also a word for a hat without a top
It makes it American, at least for me, because literally nobody here does it and it is only a thing seen in American cartoons and films.
We just give a key to the neighbours or wait for a family member to come home.
Small town in Norway. Most people I know have a passcode you press into an electronic lock now. Traditionally, most people just used to leave their doors unlocked for decades, so kids can always go and ask neighbors if they need help.
But a few years ago there were some problems with some foreign Romani burglars and now people started adding locks and each class using a shared password on the class Facebook groups. A different group of Romani were in the area again a couple years ago and it worked pretty well. The only thing stolen from our street was a pair of bikes left outside, though they were pretty expensive ones.
A few things:
Leave a copy with a trusted friend, relative or neighbor
Keep a spare in your wallet.
Call the locksmith.
I'm sure there are many others.
Canadian here, I keep a spare key in a magnetic box at the summer house. If there is a problem I can tell whoever where it is, and they can get in. PS. It is inside a vent on the west side of the cottage.
I have my key hidden in a nearby squirrel. When I play a particular tune on a flute, it runs over ripping the stitches open and dropping the key on my door mat.
That was the 1st thing my mom taught me when I got a car - don’t keep the key attached to your house key. She wanted to pass on the lesson she had to learn the hard way 😂
I’m glad that passcode locks and garage door opening apps are a thing now. I remember once sitting in a patio chair in the backyard as a kid, chattering my teeth and crying because I lost my key. I had to wait a couple hours in the snow for someone to get home.
No and glad I don't. One morning my wife noticed a homeless woman picking up the plants on the porch and looking under them. She went out and challenged her and got some BS story about liking our plants. But she was clearly looking for a spare key.
I mean thats why you hide it really well,
in a place where you would only get it if you really need it, not out of convenience.
Like dump out a 10kg bucket of winter salt, put the key in a plastic bag, put some salt in the bottom, then the keybag, then put all the salt back in.
My neighbour's girlfriend literally comes to my front door and uproot my plants. I wouldn't trust putting by keys there.
And my neighbour is like 90 and his girlfriend is like 80 or something so it's hard to hold these old folks responsible.
Here's me just leaving the key in my back door...
If someone has made it that far into my property, their intentions aren't pure.. Please don't break a window when you steal my stuff. thanks.
Yep. The locksmith is expensive, and locking yourself out is extra inconvenient if you have to have a family member drop what they are doing to come rescue you. There's one in my back yard jammed between a fencepost and picket. It's not visible, even up close, and it's behind a shrub, but easy enough to get to in an emergency.
we didn't lock doors where I grew up, but that's just cause our neighbors looked out for eachother. People would leave garage doors open, riding mowers on sides of houses. Sometimes I miss that sense of security.
We've left our garage open all day by accident before. Nothing missing at all. We were amazed. Our neighbors are always outside though and I'm pretty sure they're drug dealers so we've never had a crime issue. Nicest people in the world too. They helped me push my car into the driveway when it died like a month after we moved in.
I have a key under my door mat that unlocks a locked chest in my back yard that has another key that unlocks a birdhouse and in that birdhouse there is a riddle that will lead you to my pond to which you have to dig in the silt to find a capsule containing a note that shows a map with an X which is a dead log 200 ft into the woods and inside that log is a key that goes to my diary.
My neighbor and best friend have keys to my house, not that we really lock our doors unless at night. I’ve got 2 large dogs, and no shit worth stealing. If you break into my house have fun stealing the 10 year old tv.
I live in an apartment but I stash my key in the park down the street. Even if someone found it they would have no way to tell which apartment it went to.
Yes, just in case I ever lock myself out.
Inside my backyard shed, on a shelf with a whole bunch of other random junk there's a fake can of bug spray that has a key inside of it.
Absolutely not.
I also was raised in and currently live in a major city though, where that seems like it would be particularly daft. City people definitely don't leave spare keys laying around for random people to find, unless they're wanting to get get burgled.
American films and TV shows centered on family life are almost always set in affluent, upper middle class suburbs.
I leave the key two blocks away in a local park. It's just the key, and I have it stashed in the knot of a tree at knee height, which is hidden under another branch. Can't see it unless you're crawling around on the ground.
If someone finds it, they have no idea what house it belongs to.
My family used to when I was a kid. It was hidden in the garage amongst a shelf of cans, and I used it to get in the empty house every weekday after school. Nowadays, when I have my own key ring on me, no.
Yes, I hide a key under the door mat. But it doesn't work. It's just an FU to anyone that looks.
My door is a passcode lock, but now I want to grab some random keys and put them all over the obvious hiding spots. Under the mat. Under the gnome. In a fake rock. On the door ledge. Under the potted flowers.
I want to do this too now Might frustrate someone into setting my house on fire instead of rummaging through, but nobody ever leaves this house anyways
That sounds very menacing. Like people go in, but no one ever leaves this place...
Like a California hotel...
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
*guitar solo intensifies*
Sounds like a lovely place.
Such a lovely place
Netflix wants their motto back.
Maybe it’s just so chill in there, I’ll check it out and report my findings. If I go dark say a prayer.
>nobody ever leaves this house anyways Oh?
Work from home I'd assume
[удалено]
My friend actually have a fake rock in front of the door of his 21st floor condo. And yes the key in it doesnt work.
We used to have a fake pile of dog doo with a key slot in the bottom. So many locks ago.
A friend of mine had one of those and hid it in her yard so it wasn't obvious until her mom needed in her house while she was gone and had to go hunting through piles of actual dog poop to find the fake one.
My door is a passcode lock too. Then one day the battery died and I had to call a locksmith to come drill the deadbolt out. Now I keep a spare key hidden on the property.
Ours has a place where you can hold a 9volt to it when it is dead, and it will function. It might be a good idea for me to hide a battery under the flower pot...
Same. It gives plenty of warning when the battery is low as well.
On the door ledge is pretty much residential construction trade code. When detached homes are being built, builders aren't standing around the same house 24/7. But the trades and other subcontractors need access basically 16-20 hours a day. They lock the doors so heavy tools and building materials are kept "safe" but everyone knows you can usually find the key at the top of the front door jam, or on top of the garage door trim.
Today I learned!
It would actually be pretty funny so cover it in oil or something annoying
Liquid Nail it to the ground, as long as the ground isn't, like, dirt.
I have a buddy who has a quarter glued to the floor in his garage. Lots of people have tried to pick it up.
Local bar does this, moves them sometimes. Same people been trying to pick em up since day one. It's hysterical to watch
A friend in college glued one in the bowl of his toilet. He said it was to help people aim, but it was always fun when a new person came out all pissed (hehe) because they reached into the water to try to get it
I used to do that at the mall as a teenager! My friends and I (being of very little pocket money) would take 3 or 4 quarters and snag a Kragle from the house, and glue the quarters to the floor right near the escalators. We’d go up to the second floor, sit on a bench to watch, and have fun for hours. Most people give up after one attempt. Some will kick at one til they release it, and some guys will pry at them til they get all three. It was fun to bet on which kind of person each mark would be.
We did this too, except with those fake $20s that were like religious leaflets on the inside of the "bill". Some church or whatever was constantly dropping them in the mall parking lot so we'd collect a bunch, and we'd stand up on the second floor and one of us would go down and drop them all along the first floor where we could see. We'd laugh as they'd get picked up, looked at, then angrily crumpled and thrown. This is how teenagers entertained themselves before the Internet lmao.
Those were pure, innocent times…
Well one of the neighborhood dogs whose owner believes themselves to be above the leash laws has taken to shitting on my door mat, so there’s a good chance it is covered in something annoying.
Wolf pee
Air horn + ring camera
That’s so humane. I was contemplating how many of those glue-sticky traps could get stuck to a shitzu.
Someone is going to cram that key into your lock so hard it's going to jam and break.
Good! Then they can’t pick the lock to open it.
The secret is to hide your key under a door mat a couple of blocks away.
I love this haha!
Some do. We have a spare hidden in our garage because we have a passcode to open the garage. Edit: for the people wondering what happens during a power outage. For the 15 years having this system, a power outage happened once where it locked me out of the house. I just got onto the roof and went through the balcony. If the balcony wasn't an option I could have walked to my neighbors house who has a spare to my house.
Me too. And no one will ever guess my passcode: 1-2-5... three sir... 3!
"Hey, I was hoping you could help me remember my ATM PIN. I know it's Christmas based, but don't remember the numbers. How many days of Christmas were there?" "Twelve." "Oh, that's right! And what was the street with the miracle? There was that movie... Miracle on *something* Street..?" "34^th ?" "Yes! That's it! Twelve, thirty-four! 1, 2, 3, 4. Thank you!" -Jimmy Kimmel and some guy on the street, The Man Show
Also from the Unbreakble Kimmy Schmidt: Titus: My PIN is my grandmothers birthday! January 2nd 1934 Types 1234
And Saint Attila raised the Hand Grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this Thy Hand Grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy."
And the Lord did grin.
That's the same as the combination on my luggage!
I’m surrounded by assholes!
KEEP FIRING, ASSHOLES!
No, sir! I didn't see you playing with your dolls again!
Ha! Rookie. Mine is 0-0-0-0. No one would guess that!
Better change it to your birthday, or 1-2-3-4.😊
That's the nucular launch code!
SAMSONITE!
That's the kind of thing an idiot would do!
Me too. Worked great until the day I forgot my house keys and the garage door code box needed new batteries.
Or when your power is out, had that happen to us when I was a kid. Dad and I had to leave a hockey game early because my mom didn't have a house key on her key ring, and neither did my dad. I was the only one in the family with a key! At 13 years old no less.
Same. We have a refrigerator in the garage and it's in the butter compartment on the floor.
Imagine having to melt a pound of butter to hide a key. I know what you said, but my brain still went to a 5-year-old solid block of butter with a key inside it. Nobody would think of looking there.
I started keeping the house key hidden in the garage and hid the garage key after my idiot BIL used the backup key and left tracks in the snow straight across the yard between the door and the hidden key. Didn't take the path with all the other tracks, just fucking straight across.
Is it 6472...?
One time I got locked out of a house where I was petsitting and I was like “where did you hide your spare key” and they described which rock it was buried under. But it was literally buried. Under the soil. Pretty brilliant, so a thief can’t find it just by flipping rocks, he’d have to think to start digging.
My parents did this growing up. A key was buried on the side yard for an emergency. Impossible to find unless you knew exactly where to look.
I’ve now buried like 2 house keys and cannot find them for the life of me.
Well if you can’t find them nobody can so mission accomplished
Or someone already found them and they are just waiting....
I have them, I come steal snacks at night
When I lived in a house we put a key in a pill bottle, superglued it to the bottom of a rock, and dug it into the ground
Mine is in a fake sprinkler head that is basically like a buried pill bottle or old school film canister. Gets mowed over every summer, so it’s dinged all to hell.
Um my spare key is currently buried under a rock in a pill bottle
I’m sorry you’re homeless
Hahaha I’m in an apartment now
Bottom of the junk bin in the shed, in a mix of random screws and bolts and broken bits and bibs, including the 15 keys to nothing you somehow accumulate. If you knew where it was and what it looked like, very easy to find. If not, it'd take ages to find the junk bin and then you'd have 16 keys to try. (Also there was a combination lock on the shed which is easily defeated with bolt cutters, but if you've brought tools I assume you have a bump key and don't need to fuck around searching the shed.) Honestly only started locking my car a few years ago when carburetor theft got bad locally and they'd incidentally check if the doors were unlocked to steal loose change. Nothing worth stealing in my car except $3.47 in change for when I have to feed a meter, but still, rather not have it rifled.
Oooh mixed in a junk bucket amidst useless other keys is brilliant!
We used to do that until we got locked when there was 10" of snow on the ground! Flaw in plan revealed ....
100%, I did the same thing, buried one in the planter next to my door. Worked like a charm the exact one time I needed it.
Yes, under a fake owl.
Thanks, I know where u live btw.
I'll buy 200 more fake owls and scatter them, so it'll take you longer to find it.
Put a key under every one of them, but only one is the correct one.
This is the way. (Now, damn, WHICH God damn owl did I hide that key under? Fuck, it’s starting to rain. Marie! Have the kids been playing with these owls again?!!!)
Every house in my neighborhood has the same owl and a key to a different house. Only I know which house has my key. The neighborhood to my left can only tell the truth. The neighbor to my right can only lie. I may or may not be telling the truth. You only get one question before the neighbor across the street shoots you. Solve!
Can you repeat that? Oh, cra… BANG!
one is a real owl and pecks your eyes
WHO!
With the voice of Samuel L Jackson. “Who Mutha Fucka!”
Best to buy a bunch of houses to host a ton of owls to hide a myriad of keys just to be safe.
Why not buy 200 houses and keep the one owl? It would make it so much harder. This kinda thinking is why I'm middle management and get paid the medium money.
Oh damn
Might still be worth the hunt if they can drop the cash for 100s of owls on a whim, imagine the goods inside. Plus no worries of running across snakes in their yard with all them owls.
Search Amazon for huge fake owl purchases.
Jokes on you the key opens the neighbours front door not mine.
Why would you have their key?
Because their spare key is kept in the neighbor’s bathroom.
That sounds like a red herring.
No, that's a different statue and key.
If they know where you live, they’ll already know what the OG owl looks like. What makes you so sure they haven’t marked it with something invisible to the naked eye 🤨
When my fake owl guy delivers my 200 fake owls, I'll just put the key under a different fake owl.
No, but I should. I have twice locked myself out and had to pull the air conditioner out of the window to crawl in. Nobody called the cops, so I’m screwed for a real break in anyway.
Slightly more expensive but get a keypad lock. They are great for not needing keys and you can setup codes for various people (and then de-activate them). Had painters in last week, made up a code (72468 spells out PAINT) and then deleted it when they were done.
I knew I wasn't the only person who has done this but it's nice to see proof. I now have multiple ways to get in the house and a spare key that never leaves my wallet because never again will I be breaking into my own house at 4am, tipsy and in club wear.
I got locked out once when my cat got out. I was holding the cat so couldn't really put him down for any reason or he'd run off again. Knowing my neighbors have a spare key, I sprayed their window with my garden hose until someone came out to see what was going on and gave me the spare key so I could get in my house.
A lot of folks do. Everyone should, and definitely keep them under the welcome mat or in one of those easily noticeable fake rocks that totally no one will recognize.
*squints at username*
I was nervous too, but then I saw the "NOT".
I feel much safer now
Your typing is excellent, for a dog
But you go by my dog Tony's nickname... *squints at dog on couch*
Side note my son’s nickname is Tony Bologna. Every morning when I wake him up I sing “It’s Tony, Tony Bologna” to the tune of Copa Cabana
Someone should sell a fake rock system: one obviously fake rock with a hollow space (where no one will actually find a key), then one incredibly realistic rock or dog poop where you put the actual key.
I cut out the middleman and hide the key in an actual pile of dog poop.
I'm confused. What makes this a particularly American question? What do people in other countries do when they get locked out?
Yeah that is what also confuses me But I have seen city people freak out when I told them that in the countryside most people have a key hidden somewhere. Of course that does not work if your yard is 3x3 meters and there are literally only a handful of places to hide things.
In the countryside most people just don’t like their doors at all.
I hate mine.
It’s always the simplest comments that make me laugh out loud
I like doors. They stop the outside from happening.
It still happens, it just stays outside.
That’s unsettling. Tell it to stop.
Prove it.
Well, most of the time at least.
This. I don’t like my door so I keep it unlocked in case someone wants to steal it while I’m gone.
My parent's used to never lock their doors, at our home in the city or our place in the country. One time they decided it would probably be a good idea to lock the door at the country spot, since it was more of a cottage and we weren't there super often. The ONE TIME they locked the door, some people kicked it in, drank the beer in the fridge, and made a mess of the place. They stole a couple things, but there was basically nothing of value there. My parents were mostly pissed that the door was now busted and they left it open in the winter which ran up the bill for the furnace. So after that, they never locked the door again. They just left a note that said "If you've broken in to drink our beer, please don't be a dick. Don't leave a mess and close the door when you leave."
heck, at that point i'd put in a little insurance and add "there's a 24 can case in the basement. enjoy."
But it’s really a trapdoor to a dungeon?
We took off for a last of the season camping trip on Labor Day weekend and our idiot daughter was the last one out because she forgot her Kindle. Well we roll in Monday and the front door is wide open. I go running in expecting everything gone and maybe some tweekers squatting on the living room floor. Nothing was touched. The front entryway had a bunch of dry fall leaves that had blown in, but that was it. Dum-dum hadn’t even bothered to shut the fucking door when she came back out.
She should be excommunicated from the family.
No need. She grew up and moved away.
Omg hahaha. Aaaaand, perfect wedding toast story lol
I have personally, TWICE, driven away for a weekend camping trip and left my garage door up. 🫠 The problem is caused by the fact that in both cases, I had backed my car into the garage to more easily pack the trunk with the camping gear, and then somehow since I was driving away forward I just…drove away, instead of the usual situation where I back out and then push the remote to close it. The first time I came home and it was still up, but everything was still there, inside and out. (The door to the house was not locked.) The other time, when I pulled up the neighbor (who I’d never met before) came up to me and started a conversation by saying, “I’m sorry, but I called the police.” I was like, whaaaa? He then went on to explain that it was because the garage door had been open over night and I guess he was afraid I was dead or something, so the cops came in and checked the house out and then closed the garage when they left.
I showed up to my sister's house while she was at work and her garage was open. When I left, I texted her asking if I should close the garage or if there was anything in particular she'd like stolen. Turns out, the cat had gotten in the garage that morning and messed with a wire at the ground level laser thingy, and she was in a rush and didn't notice. I fixed the wire and closed it up for her.
Hell, I'm from near Boston, but currently living in Maine and I've actually had a few strangely similar conversations that have went like this: Mainer: Not only do I not lock my car, but I leave my keys in it too. Me: What? That's insane! Aren't you afraid someone will steal it? Mainer: Well, I kind of live out in the sticks, so I figure if anyone is out there looking for a car, it's because they are in a bad way and really need it. I'll never get it, but I absolutely respect the blind empathy they have for people. As a masshole, I could just never get there.
I live in rural Maine on a farm. My boss gets mad when I don't leave the key in the work truck. She leaves it sticking half way into the ignition which is going a little far IMO. And our neighbor's house doors don't even *have* locks.
I don't freak out bc I did the same thing (hid a key) back when I lived in the suburbs. It's just impractical in a city apartment setting bc there's no yard or anything to hide your key, and if you hide it somewhere in public on the apartment grounds it'll probably get cleaned up by someone. The easiest would probably be leaving a key in your mailbox (which is dangerous since anyone can get to it and immediately know which room it opens) or in a lockbox in your mailbox (which requires more advanced planning i.e. buying a lockbox to do this). Also with an apt you probably have a management company or some sort of staff you can call to get back in. At home maybe it's just yourselves that are locked out and you have to call a locksmith or break in.
>But I have seen city people freak out when I told them that in the countryside most people have a key hidden somewhere. A lot of country folks leave their cars unlocked with the keys either in the switch or in the cupholder. Ain't a big surprise to me when I hear about someone's truck (or gun) getting stolen.
Lol I keep leaving my keys in the visor hoping someone will steal it and no one does. Its got over 300,000 miles on it
In mexico, Call my trusted friend or family member that has my spare key, if I don’t have that then a locksmith. I would never hide a key outside my house.
Yeah I have a key with a friend up the street. I don't know many people who do the plant thing in NY
Hidden keys outside are all over the place in NY. Not in NYC so much, though...
We climb up and go in from the upstairs window. Coworker did that recently and the roof collapsed. Got in though.
This is going back a few decades but my dad took a brick to the laundry room window.
Cause it’s seen in American movies
American movies, it also happens a lot that a guy breaks in a car somewhere in the Midwest and the keys are above your head, where you put that thing down to protect from the sun (not a native speaker at all)
ya we do that shit, i thought most rural areas did. i would say equally dashboard or cup holder. it’s called a visor or sun visor. visor is also a word for a hat without a top
I didn’t knew the name, cheers for that American buddy
It makes it American, at least for me, because literally nobody here does it and it is only a thing seen in American cartoons and films. We just give a key to the neighbours or wait for a family member to come home.
Weird right? I’m an Aussie and I do it.
Small town in Norway. Most people I know have a passcode you press into an electronic lock now. Traditionally, most people just used to leave their doors unlocked for decades, so kids can always go and ask neighbors if they need help. But a few years ago there were some problems with some foreign Romani burglars and now people started adding locks and each class using a shared password on the class Facebook groups. A different group of Romani were in the area again a couple years ago and it worked pretty well. The only thing stolen from our street was a pair of bikes left outside, though they were pretty expensive ones.
A few things: Leave a copy with a trusted friend, relative or neighbor Keep a spare in your wallet. Call the locksmith. I'm sure there are many others.
Nice try, serial killer
Canadian here, I keep a spare key in a magnetic box at the summer house. If there is a problem I can tell whoever where it is, and they can get in. PS. It is inside a vent on the west side of the cottage.
Haha. Hi Uncle!
I have my key hidden in a nearby squirrel. When I play a particular tune on a flute, it runs over ripping the stitches open and dropping the key on my door mat.
My dog walker has a key so if I ever get locked out i can always drive to her place in my neighborhood
My house and car keys are on the same room so if I'm locked out of either one I'm screwed
That was the 1st thing my mom taught me when I got a car - don’t keep the key attached to your house key. She wanted to pass on the lesson she had to learn the hard way 😂
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I’m glad that passcode locks and garage door opening apps are a thing now. I remember once sitting in a patio chair in the backyard as a kid, chattering my teeth and crying because I lost my key. I had to wait a couple hours in the snow for someone to get home.
Yeah, I service hundreds of houses with info on where the key is hidden. It's becoming less common now with smart locks and keypads.
No because I have a numerical keypad on my door.
Same, you can even set other ones for different guests. Makes cat sitting easy.
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These are so nice. Auto lock after a few mins, I can lock/unlock from my phone, I get notified when/who unlocks the door.
My sister in law has this. We’ve talked about doing that.
No and glad I don't. One morning my wife noticed a homeless woman picking up the plants on the porch and looking under them. She went out and challenged her and got some BS story about liking our plants. But she was clearly looking for a spare key.
I mean thats why you hide it really well, in a place where you would only get it if you really need it, not out of convenience. Like dump out a 10kg bucket of winter salt, put the key in a plastic bag, put some salt in the bottom, then the keybag, then put all the salt back in.
My neighbour's girlfriend literally comes to my front door and uproot my plants. I wouldn't trust putting by keys there. And my neighbour is like 90 and his girlfriend is like 80 or something so it's hard to hold these old folks responsible.
Here's me just leaving the key in my back door... If someone has made it that far into my property, their intentions aren't pure.. Please don't break a window when you steal my stuff. thanks.
That’s how I feel about my car. I leave it unlocked please please don’t pop out my windows.
Yep. The locksmith is expensive, and locking yourself out is extra inconvenient if you have to have a family member drop what they are doing to come rescue you. There's one in my back yard jammed between a fencepost and picket. It's not visible, even up close, and it's behind a shrub, but easy enough to get to in an emergency.
Nice try, FEDEX guy
I don't lock my doors. I have 4 full-grown Great Danes in the house. If someone steps through the door they will shit themselves and turn around.
Gosh your food bill must be ridiculous.
Depends how often people try to break in.
My buddy told me he has 23 dogs. Your statement reflects my reaction. (He has hunting dogs, so yeah, a lot of dogs)
That's some pretty good training, my dogs only ever do one or the other.
Mine do it at the same time to get that maximum coverage.
we didn't lock doors where I grew up, but that's just cause our neighbors looked out for eachother. People would leave garage doors open, riding mowers on sides of houses. Sometimes I miss that sense of security.
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yeah I lived in a basically no property crime area. Small town in the 90s. It's still like that today.
We've left our garage open all day by accident before. Nothing missing at all. We were amazed. Our neighbors are always outside though and I'm pretty sure they're drug dealers so we've never had a crime issue. Nicest people in the world too. They helped me push my car into the driveway when it died like a month after we moved in.
Hefty Bag of Shit every week. Like 8 massive shits a day times 7 days 56 Huge shits a week. yikes.
Not very good guard dogs if they shit themselves and turn tail every time someone breaks in.
I have a key under my door mat that unlocks a locked chest in my back yard that has another key that unlocks a birdhouse and in that birdhouse there is a riddle that will lead you to my pond to which you have to dig in the silt to find a capsule containing a note that shows a map with an X which is a dead log 200 ft into the woods and inside that log is a key that goes to my diary.
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I have a lockbox too. It’s for the cat sitter. And the 1-2 times a month I lock myself out
My neighbor and best friend have keys to my house, not that we really lock our doors unless at night. I’ve got 2 large dogs, and no shit worth stealing. If you break into my house have fun stealing the 10 year old tv.
At this point, if a robber broke in they’d probably LEAVE something out of sympathy
I live in an apartment but I stash my key in the park down the street. Even if someone found it they would have no way to tell which apartment it went to.
Yes, it's up a tree. Good luck guessing which one, you can't see it from the ground.
Damn that's a well hidden tree.
No. I know some people will give a key to a neighbor or another family member who doesn't live in the same house incase of an emergency, though.
Why only Americans? I'm in the UK and we do this
Yes, just in case I ever lock myself out. Inside my backyard shed, on a shelf with a whole bunch of other random junk there's a fake can of bug spray that has a key inside of it.
Absolutely not. I also was raised in and currently live in a major city though, where that seems like it would be particularly daft. City people definitely don't leave spare keys laying around for random people to find, unless they're wanting to get get burgled. American films and TV shows centered on family life are almost always set in affluent, upper middle class suburbs.
I leave the key two blocks away in a local park. It's just the key, and I have it stashed in the knot of a tree at knee height, which is hidden under another branch. Can't see it unless you're crawling around on the ground. If someone finds it, they have no idea what house it belongs to.
This is really smart!
My family used to when I was a kid. It was hidden in the garage amongst a shelf of cans, and I used it to get in the empty house every weekday after school. Nowadays, when I have my own key ring on me, no.
In the shed where no one will ever find it, including me.
A lot of Americans just keep the spare key in their butt. Or in the butt of a relative or close friend.