His Brother Moved Back Home, But He Refuses To Lock The Door, Which Causes All Kinds Of Safety Concerns
by Ben Auxier

Shutterstock/Reddit
I gotta admit, of all the odd questions I’ve sifted through on this site, none have baffled me quite in the way this one does.
I understand that some people are stubborn, but the things they choose to be stubborn ABOUT?
Absolutely inscrutable a lot of the time.
Like in this story:
AITA for asking my brother to lock the door and installing a lock?
My brother moved in with my mom and me in June.
For months I’ve been asking him to lock the front door when he leaves.
He refuses, says stuff like “accidents happen,” “you’re being paranoid,” “no one’s coming through the gate,” “there are dogs,” and otherwise dismisses me.
Time for a new lock.
A few week ago he left the door unlocked around 4am; came back after my mom locked the door rang the doorbell at least 17 times our dogs alerted us.
A week later, I installed a digital lock and gave the code to everyone so we could avoid the same issue.
A few days later he took the back off the lock, reset/disabled it, and left the back panel off so that everyone could see he had done it.
Understandably, they’re concerned.
I see this as a clear violation of the house’s safety.
He’s dismissive about my concerns, has a history of minimizing things I say, and now he’s actively sabotaged a safety device.
I don’t want this to escalate to something that could hurt my mom or me, and I don’t feel heard.
A list of worries follows.
Questions:
How should I handle him refusing to carry a key and deliberately disabling the lock?
How do I set boundaries so he takes household safety seriously?
Any recommendations on what to do next?
Am I being unreasonable about wanting doors locked?
How do I handle someone who sabotages security measures?
What would you do if a family member consistently ignored your safety concerns?
Thanks for any advice.
Those are a lot of really good questions.
Check out what the comments on Reddit had to say:
This person knows exactly what happens when the doors are left unlocked.

Some said the reason wasn’t important.

There’ a mental health issue to consider.

Something has to change.

Seems like what he truly needs is treatment.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.
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