SoapZone Community Message Board

Our house was built some time in the late 1950s...I want to say 1957? '59? No deadbolts. The doors lock by pushing in the doorknob and twisting it a quarter turn to the right. All the doors except the one to the primary bedroom have the exact same doorknobs and AFAIK, the only doors that lock are the bathroom door and the front door. I've of course locked the bathroom door. Once, when I was just a wee toddling baby, I got in the bathroom and managed to lock the door from the inside. I was too hysterical to listen to what my folks were telling me ("just twist the doorknob, sweetheart!") so Dad actually got his screwdriver and took the door off its hinges.

But honestly? I can't EVER remember locking the front door. I'm not even entirely certain where the key to the front door is...or if there still IS a key to the front door.

Our town is relatively safe. In over 200 years, we've had exactly one murder. Home invasions aren't really a thing here; our police blotter, published once a month in the town paper, is mostly bad drivers and loose animals and telephone scams. Once, an old lady called the cops because her washing machine had become unhooked from the water source and was spewing water all around her basement (the cops came and reattached the hose). Another time, a different old (and I'm assuming confused) woman called to report that someone had stolen her lawnmower...and left a nicer one in its place *scratches head*.

But back to our front door...this morning, while giving the living room a GOOD cleaning, I opened the front door to step outside and beat some dust out of a table runner. When I came back inside and closed the door, I must've somehow leaned on the knob and twisted it. Dad was out grocery shopping...he parked in his usual (non-winter) spot in the driveway, grabbed his groceries, came to the front door and...couldn't open it. He claimed he pounded on the door a few times, but by then, I was taking a break. I've fallen down a weird rabbit hole on YouTube...I've been listening to Mongolian heavy metal bands (I don't even like heavy metal but there's something about Mongolian throat singing that makes Mongolian heavy metal oddly compelling). I had my headphones on and was listening to The Hu (my favorite song of theirs: ...I'm also fond of this song by a different band ) and of course didn't hear him. Luckily for him, our side door to our attached garage doesn't have a lock...and honestly, the wooden part of the door barely closes these days. Gotta love old houses.