Totally OT

[Gams]

Tonight I drove into town to see my nephew’s basketball game. When I got to town, I passed a lot of homes that had their drapes/blinds wide open and you could easily see into the houses where people were watching tv or at the dinner table, etc. I found that really interesting because it would give me the creeps leaving my blinds open at night knowing everyone outside could see into my house and all I’d see was my reflection when I looked out. My blinds are ALWAYS closed at night. Am I just weird?

[Vantreesta]

Nope, I'm the same way! Although to be fair, our blinds aren't even open that often during the day. What always amazes me is how many people leave their garage doors open when they're not in them!

[donnamp]

I'm with you Gams, at night, we close our blinds/curtains!

Vantreesta - i agree about the garage! I had friends who would open their garage door on Saturday morning and leave it open all day - no matter where they were in the house or yard. That is just inviting trouble, I think.

Donna

[Leonana]

I also agree. Curtains are closed at night. I’ve noticed a lot of people in my neighborhood do the same. However, my brother and sil leave theirs open until they go to bed, s big picture window facing the street. They live in a much smaller town, and I’m in a big metro area.

I do have them all open in the daytime, I like lots of light in the house. But as soon as it becomes darker in the house, an hour before sunset usually, I close the blinds and turn on the lights.

We also keep our garage door closed unless we are in it. Same with my neighbors. Too much petty theft to leave it open.

[Erica H.]

Blinds are closed when it gets dark, but garage is open most of the time when the weather is good. We live in a pretty rural area with big lots and long driveways. It's very unlikely that a stranger is going to come to our garage to steal something. We do have problems with wild animals, though. Mostly possums and raccoons and other people's cats (we have an indoor/outdoor cat).

Erica

[toaster]

Gives me the creeps too! It's DH's job to close the blinds - as soon as it gets dark, I tell him "people are watching me!" Truth is we live in a townhouse community and there's not really people out and about at night, but still.

[alisoncooks]

The minute the sun goes down, I close the living room blinds. We live at the top of a “T” intersection. The vertical road is an entrance to an assisted living facility and the horizontal road is the main road (we live in the middle top, facing the entrance road). Anyway, there are always people coming and going; shifts changing and such. And it seems like people sit at that intersection doing who knows what (checking their phones, etc) for a minute or two before pulling out. So if I don’t close the blinds, I feel like they’re watching me (even though, surely, they must be checking their messages or something. Calling spouses about picking up dinner. )

[Izzy]

I guess I am one of the weird ones. I leave everything open all the time except in my bedroom if I am dressing but usually I go to the bathroom to do that. I like light and openness. I hate the feeling of being closed in. Honestly, I figure what can people see? Me watching tv, reading, eating? As for the garage door, when my kids were younger the garage door went up right away. Their toys bikes etc were in there. It stayed open until bedtime unless we weren't home. In the warmer months my garage door goes up and stays up all day because I am in and out doing yard work etc. The only time it's closed is when I leave or when I am shutting down for the night.

[summer breeze]

I also close the curtains/blinds as soon as it starts getting dark. My friend and a few of my neighbors have no curtains/blinds at all on their front window. So you can see in all night. I'm not trying to see but if I'm driving by I see what they're watching on tv or I see them in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I don't understand it at all.

[Vantreesta]

We live on the edge of town, just out enough to have a rural mail carrier, but in reality it's still in town in a full neighborhood. We had a 300ish-pound cement dwarf sitting right outside our garage, directly under the house number, for over a decade. A few years ago overnight someone STOLE our dwarf!! I leave nothing to chance now. If someone was motivated enough to do all that planning and get help and a car to steal a cement dwarf then nothing surprises me anymore and nothing is safe. Leaving the blinds open at night or the garage door open is just an advertisement to people what all you have that might be worth stealing. No thank you!!