Moms car stolen today while at Doctor's office for a checkup...

[HillStreet]

That day was certainly in my lifetime. My parents never removed the key from the ignition in the car and they never locked a door to the house in Oklahoma and Texas. In the 1950s & early '60s, the guy who delivered Mobil gasoline in the Plano, TX, area filled his tank truck each evening to be ready to go the next morning. He then parked the truck behind our service station and left the key in the ignition every night. No one ever bothered it.

Not all that long ago we could tell who the tourists were---they locked their cars. Now things are different.

 

[k0ua]

When I started working in Harrison Ar. in 2002, I noticed that all of the car dealerships put the keys to their cars out every day on the trunks of the cars to make it easier to demo the cars. No running in to the dealership to find the keys. I had come from the Springfield Mo, area and car theft from dealerships was certainly a problem. But going 70 miles down to to a much smaller town, was a whole different "climate". A car on a dealers lot with the keys available would last about 30 minutes in Springfield. I could not believe they actually did that in Harrison. When I inquired about it, they said they had never had any problem with theft. I don't think they do that now.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I worked on the lot when in High School... my job every Saturday was to wash and start every car and let them run... keys were always on the visor... never any issues.

Wore out several sets of locks on my own vehicles.... always locking and unlocking.

Funny thing is I live in Oakland CA and Oakland is known for crime.

All the crime that has happened to me and my brothers and now Mom has happened at nearby communities... Mom's car was taken in a "Good" area where people have moved to escape "Crime Ridden" Oakland.

Not saying there is not plenty of crime in Oakland... just saying places where people perceive there is none are almost none are fooling themselves.

We did go the Sheriff Stations yesterday hoping for an update... sometimes cars are found and it takes days to get a postcard in the mail.

Had no idea the Sheriff Station is closed from 5 PM Friday to 8 AM Monday... as a kid, the place was open 24/7 and I remember when a friend got his bicycle stolen on a Saturday going with him and his Dad to make the report.

Now where I work was always the safe city... now it has lots of crime... see it at work... when the break in happened at 1 am at the Hospital and I responded, the officer asked if I was armed... said no and was told to wait while they cleared the area... carrying a firearm can get a person in all kinds of trouble here, yet the officer wanted to know why anyone unarmed would respond to a Burglar Alarm... I told him it was company policy since the Police started charging for false alarms...

 

[oosik]

My neighbor to the south is a big time farmer. He has an old '72 Ford pickup that has a flatbed and stake sides. Its normally only used around the farm but last summer he drove it to town.

He came out of a store and saw two young guys attempting to steal the truck. Problem was - neither of the two knew how to drive a stick shift. So one of the idiots runs away - the other stays to fight. Well - - my friend is about 5 years younger than me and you all know how farmers are. By the time the police arrived the young guy had "fallen and broken his arm and had three broken ribs". My friend had the time of his life and said he was just getting warmed up.

They may have learned a lesson - don't mix it up with old farmers and their old pickups.

 

[jmurray01]

My neighbor to the south is a big time farmer. He has an old '72 Ford pickup that has a flatbed and stake sides. Its normally only used around the farm but last summer he drove it to town.

He came out of a store and saw two young guys attempting to steal the truck. Problem was - neither of the two knew how to drive a stick shift. So one of the idiots runs away - the other stays to fight. Well - - my friend is about 5 years younger than me and you all know how farmers are. By the time the police arrived the young guy had "fallen and broken his arm and had three broken ribs". My friend had the time of his life and said he was just getting warmed up.

They may have learned a lesson - don't mix it up with old farmers and their old pickups.

It certainly seems that in America the best anti-theft device is a manual transmission!!

As I live in the UK where manual is the usual option when buying a car it seems very strange to me that anybody would not be able to drive one, but there you go!

 

[Bird]

It certainly seems that in America the best anti-theft device is a manual transmission!!

As I live in the UK where manual is the usual option when buying a car it seems very strange to me that anybody would not be able to drive one, but there you go!

And another thing that's strange to me is how few new cars and trucks even have a manual transmission option available.

 

[k0ua]

It certainly seems that in America the best anti-theft device is a manual transmission!!

As I live in the UK where manual is the usual option when buying a car it seems very strange to me that anybody would not be able to drive one, but there you go!

When I was a kid probably the majority of cars and especially trucks were all manual transmissions. But as time went by more and more were sold with Automatics. Now all light trucks and most cars are sold with automatics. Sure some cars can be bought with manual transmissions, but a lot of younger persons cannot drive them. They just don't have the opportunity to drive any.

 

[deerefan]

That day was certainly in my lifetime. My parents never removed the key from the ignition in the car and they never locked a door to the house in Oklahoma and Texas. In the 1950s & early '60s, the guy who delivered Mobil gasoline in the Plano, TX, area filled his tank truck each evening to be ready to go the next morning. He then parked the truck behind our service station and left the key in the ignition every night. No one ever bothered it.

You know Bird, my wife always says I am an old soul (I am only 36), must be reincarnated from someone who grew up during those times. I am sure there were many issues back then, but the simplicity of life and strong values are what attracts me. I listen to "oldies" and classic country from that genre, love the cars and tractors, especially late 50s thru mid 60s. We went to a friends farm one time to look at his new 200hp John Deere. I spent about 30 seconds looking at that and about an hour looking at his 1968 JD 5020! My dad's family grew oranges here in south La., people would stop in and ask if they could pick a handful. Paw Paw would always let them pick 4 or 5, folks never took more than that and he never charged them. Between the locked gates, loaded guns and no trespassing signs, even on my farm, no one stops or tries to get some produce. Ultrarunner, your situation makes me sick. Hopefully you find the car unharmed and the thief gets caught. Times are changing folks, not looking like for the better either.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Use to wonder why some would retire to a gated community and I can see some very real benefits... lots of predators out there that prey on the elderly.

Mom is 80 and people are always commenting on how fit she it... chop wood with an ax or go on a 5 mile hike... no problem... did her last 50 mile run at 75 and hung up her running shoes...

She does like to walk and people repeatedly tell her it is not safe for her to be out... even with her Australian Shepherd at her side...

Guess it's my problem because I can't concentrate if I'm worried about her... if it had not been for this early morning Hospital break-in... I would have taken her to the Doctor's appointment... I was tied up with the police and could not get away...

Maybe a topic for a new thread... those of you with elderly parent(s) that rely on you for that little extra help to be independant... how do you manage?

By the way... all of the points mentioned are in the SF Bay Area...

Thing is, elderly parents, "that rely on you (or anyone else for that matter) for that little extra help" aren't really independent. It's an illusion of independence. Back 100 years or more ago, the elderly stayed with their family, where a son or son-in-law became head of the household. Care was provided for advice from the parents or grandparents, and as a matter of honoring the father and mother. The last days, weeks, months, or in some cases, years of a person's life, it's impossible for them to care for themselves.

My brother, my sister, and I all spent several weeks each providing that necessary extra care to our father to enable him to stay in his home, where he eventually passed as we stayed with him. And even then, the hospital and the rehab facility provided extra care for him for a couple of weeks each until they said there was nothing more they could do and we brought him back to his home. It would have been a heck of a lot easier for all three of us if we'd been able to convince him to move in with one of us; but there's no mystery where we all got our stubborn streak from.

As for San Francisco, it's prime hunting territory for predators since the population is nearly 100% defenseless, there being a near total ban on legal ownership of handguns in the city.

 

[Bird]

When I was a kid probably the majority of cars and especially trucks were all manual transmissions.

I'm sure I'll never forget the first automatic transmission car my parents owned. They had been driving manual transmission Plymouths, but in 1952, my Dad traded their Plymouth for a 1948 Oldsmobile 76 with a hydramatic transmission. When he brought that Olds home, Mother was furious; said to him, "You just bought that knowing that I don't know how to drive an automatic!" Of course, it didn't take long for her to get over that.:laughing:

Most of my learning to drive was Dad's sister teaching me to drive her 1947 Ford business coupe on country dirt road from the time I was about 10 years old. Then I took Drivers Ed in high school using a 1956 Ford, manual transmission, that the local Ford dealer loaned to the school for one school year. My own first car was a 1946 Chevy 2-door with a manual transmission, vacuum shift.

And I became a police officer in 1964 and our first automatic transmission squad cars were the 1969 models. I never drove one of those because I was a detective sergeant in 1969 in the CID and we used pool cars that were all still manual transmissions. So my own first automatic was the 1970 Plymouths after I became a patrol lieutenant.