No ‘smart locks’ for St. Nick

I am glad there were no “smart locks” at the time of St. Nicolas, who we honor today. In his time homes were open, as they still are in some towns and rural areas. But now in most cities, at least in the USA, we must have locks on our doors. We need to lock our houses, cars and garages to be safe and protect our property and ourselves.

One of my keyed locks on a door was broken. Richard, the Catholic Worker from Chiapas who is visiting with us, offered to fix it if I purchased new door handles and lock. I thought that was simple, since another friend had told me what type of keyed lock to purchase. However, it turned out to be a nightmare. After having purchased a ‘smart lock’ lockset, visiting a locksmith, returning the lockset, talking to two more locksmiths by phone, and taking back the original ‘smart lock’ I returned, I thought I had solved the problem. Richard installed the door lock in 15 minutes — something that would have taken me hours. The job is almost done. I just need to purchase a few more copies of a key. Preparing for the installation was tougher and took a lot longer than the installation of the lock.

Preparing to be secure in life takes more work than being secured, and it does not always work. Stealing, like cheating, seems to be the new norm of our society, from the rich adults to the high school teen.

When I was a child in Milwaukee, before the day of ‘smart locks’, we celebrated Dec. 6th, St. Nick’s day, in a big way. Now it not such a big day anymore, outside of a few countries like Holland.

The DMZ garden last summer had a problem of persons stealing organic vegetables. The only way to have a garden in the central city is to have community support and we did. But I guess, not enough. In today’s world it is hard to feel secure anyway, even with all the ‘smart locks.’

I long for the days of St. Nick and no ‘smart locks’.

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