Hey, ZU, Kassi here.

Now, I'm a pretty reasonable person when it comes to how others feel, but when I begin to feel they're becoming a nuisance and a hindrance on my comfort and safety, I need to put my foot down.

So, I've come to the realization that my housemates aren't accustomed to "normal" household courtesy, including things like "If you use someone's dishes, wash them, and don't leave them in your room for weeks." and "if you're doing something you don't want people to see, close the door." and finally, "Close and lock all doors in the house at all times."

Lex and I just returned home after watching a movie with our friend. It's now 12:30 in the morning, and we found our garage door open. The door going to the house from the garage was unlocked, too. This would be a warm welcome if we didn't live in the heart of "shady Riverside."

This wouldn't irritate me as much if it were the first time it's happened. It would definitely irritate me less if I hadn't told them just before we left that they need to learn to lock the doors. Alas, that was too much to hope for.

I was silly to leave my car unlocked, assuming it would be safe in the garage because I closed the door. However, my roommate came home later, and decided not to close the garage because it takes a lot of energy to push the button right by the door. So, needless to say, I now have lost my CD's, wet wipes, some change, and Lex's cell phone because it was in my car. Some guy just walked in and helped himself to it. You would think this would alert my roommate. I was furious and told him, and he said, "Was anything taken from my car?" I don't know, nor do I care.

Last week, I came home from work at 10:30 at night, to find the front door not only unlocked but wide open. None of the lights are on in the house. He was upstairs, and obviously had no intention of CLOSING the door. I mentioned this to him today, and the other housemate, and they both said "Oh, it was him." Neither of them took the blame, neither of them wanted the responsibility of keeping things safe. I clearly stated to them, "If you come in this house, make sure the doors are locked. When you leave, make sure they are locked. We don't live in Beverly Hills, and we've already had stuff stolen because of doors not being locked."

You would think that would be clear enough.

So now it's 12:30 in the morning, we come home, and the garage door is open, the door into the house is unlocked, the light is on downstairs, and nobody is home.

Needless to say, I'm furious.

So, Zelda Universe, it's come to this. What the heck do I do? I don't feel safe in my own home. As much as I like taking the heaviest nearby object and checking all corners of the house for hiding intruders, I think there's a better solution. I've already tried talking to them several times, and leaving notes, but that doesn't seem to work. I've been reasonable. Talking hasn't gotten me anywhere, so what can I do to take action? I don't want my safety to be at risk anymore because of rude, lazy, and negligent roommates.

How can I get them to at least close and lock the doors in our house? (I'll worry about telling them to stop partying, clean my dishes when they dirty them, shut off the lights when they're not being used, and give themselves the privacy when no one wants to see that later.) It's been made clear that this is a safety issue, and I'm at my wits end. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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