Beach Bust
My roommate was doing a five-week program in Morocco and asked if it would be okay if she sublet her room while she was gone. I agreed and a 19 year old soon-to-be freshmen in college moved in. I turned 30 while she was living with me and I celebrated by going to the beach for the weekend with a bunch of friends. As she was leaving for work on Friday, I said to her, “Bye, see you Sunday.” She looked confused despite my having told her earlier in the week that I was going to the beach, so I reminded her and she said to have a good time.
So after an awesome time at the beach, I got home and finished up some work that was due the next day. I was thankful that the subletter was at work so I didn’t have any distractions. I finished up went to bed just before 2am. The new roommate still was not home, but I figured she used her fake ID to go out. I got in bed and promptly fell asleep.
At 4am my bedroom doors flew open and a man shouted, “Hello?!” I shot straight up to find not one, not two, but THREE police officers standing in my doorway. I had no idea what’s going on. The officer asked who I was (at least I think that’s what happened as I was still half asleep) and if anybody is with me. They told me to get out of bed, but I kept asking what happened. Then I hear them say, “Okay, you can come in.” And the subletter comes in my room.
Since I expected her home while I was still up, I had never locked the front door and forgot to lock it before I went to bed. Despite telling her I was coming home on Sunday, she forgot and thought I was going to be home later in the week, so she freaked out when the door was unlocked. She had indeed gone out drinking with her fake ID, so the paranoia was high, and she called the cops. After all this she asked me how my weekend at the beach was. I told her I just needed to go to bed. She never apologized again and it was never spoken of the remainder of her stay.
So, you forgot to lock the door, and this teenager, who had probably never lived away from home before, was a little freaked out about finding the house unlocked after two in the morning? I can’t say I blame her. I don’t see why you seem to think she owed you an apology. It’s not as if she did anything malicious; she forgot which day you were coming home–almost as if she wasn’t completely focused on you and your schedule!–and, finding the house unlocked late at night, called the police to check things out. That’s not a stupid thing to do.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be thrilled to have the kind of roommate who forgets to lock the front door.
I agree with GarterSnake. How could you even fall asleep with the door unlocked all night! Does she not have her own keys?? We’ll be reading her version of this story pretty soon, I’m sure.
Hmm. Actually, some places are really low crime or small communities and people don’t feel the need to lock their front doors. Just sayin’, cuz I live in a town like that. I’ve accidentally left the door unlocked many times and nothing bad has happened.
I thought it was kind of funny. I’d get freaked out if I came home and the door was unlocked and I thought (even wrongly) that my roommate wasn’t home. And plmno – where is it that you live? And what do you have in the way of electronics? Furs? Large piles of money around?
Hah, apparently everyone assumes that big cities are where the crime is at or that all communities have burglars hanging around for that “accidental unlocked door.” My family lives in Northern Louisiana, 12 miles from the biggest town… which has one street, one gas station, and half a grocery store. So, when my family forgets to lock the door at night, I don’t fret. It’s called probability and “shit happens.” I don’t advocate leaving your door unlocked (bad idea, OP!) but seriously people… Not every city is Houston, Texas.
This was a totally blah story. OP got woken up by a 19 year old girl because she left the door unlocked… Sounds like the OP forgot how scary life was with strangers at age 19.
Yeah, I live in the downtown of a pretty big city (Toronto) and I often leave my door unlocked when I go to bed at night. I don’t think it’s that unusual. Of course, it can depend a lot on the particularities of the street you live on and stuff like that.
I don’t care where you live. Leaving your door unlocked at night is not smart. If you own your own house, I guess you can do what you want at your own risk, but if you live with a roommate, you should consider that maybe, just maybe, your roommate would rather come home to a securely-locked building than an open front door.
And for the people crying, “Oh, I live in a small town/in Toronto, where nothing bad ever happens,” I’d like to say: 1) Crime can happen anywhere and 2) It’s not as if locking your front door is equatable with stringing barbed wire over your fence or something. Locking your door doesn’t hurt anyone, and it doesn’t make you a bad neighbor. It doesn’t do anything but ensure that if someone tries to break into your house, the door will be locked. And it takes like half a second to lock a door. I just don’t see any reason not to do it.
PS to plmno: When I was a young, stupid, teenager, I hitchhiked a few times. Nothing bad happened. That doesn’t mean I’d do it again.
I don’t think the door being locked or not is the issue…. the issue is that the roommate’s only offense was to ensure her own safety in a situation she thought might be dangerous… oh no, how terrible of her.
To Ashlee: “How could you even fall asleep with the door unlocked all night!”
Um. People get tired and fall asleep. They forget to do stuff like lock doors once in a while. And sometimes, they do them both at the same time. It’s not as if she fell asleep while operating a chain saw.
GarterSnake, you are one judgmental bitch, and shouldn’t be allowed near a computer.
I’m a judgmental bitch who shouldn’t be allowed near a computer because I think it’s foolish to leave one’s door unlocked overnight? Okay, then, total stranger! Thanks for letting me know.
LOL @ MichelleNovember’s comment about Houston, Texas. Way to troll! Were you just *looking* to start a flame war about Hurricane Katrina?
I think you’re all weird.
Forgetting to lock the door happens. A teenager going out with an illegal fake ID, getting boozed up and then because of her asshattery having to wake up to 3 total strangers in your bedroom? I would have busted her for her fake ID right there and then in front of the cops.
I’m with Pfft on both counts…lol
Hah, seems like some people search for trolling and snark. No, Houston just has bad crime compared to a smaller city like Beaumont, TX. When you’re fairly local, you remember the OTHER hurricanes that happened to SETX, not just Katrina (Hell, Hurricane Ike 4 weeks after Katrina, and Hurricane Ike last year
).
Pfft — exactly!
Sounds like an honest mistake with unfortunate results.
Locking the door at night depends on where you live and with who.
I grew up in a rural neighborhood with six siblings. Our front door was simply never, EVER locked for a ten year period.
I have never locked my front door. But I like on 6 acres of property and if anyone wandered onto it they would be more scared of us I think. The real issue here is, there was no story. 19 year old’s drink. People forgot to lock doors. Yawn.