What goes through people's minds when they decide to break into someone's car and steal something? I mean, obviously it's something along the lines of "ooh, look, that person has something I want", but isn't there usually another thought closely following that says "oh, wait, this isn't my car, this isn't my stuff, so I better just go on my way"?? There should be. But obviously not. And it doesn't even matter if your car is locked or not, because if they really want it, there's little one measly pane of glass can do to keep someone from getting it.
So my philosophy on locking my car - someone looking in my car is probably (just a guess, here) not looking to steal my car (while I love Atilla, she's not a beauty nor is she in remotely stellar condition). And since replacing a pane of glass requires a significant amount of money (at least to the poor grad student), I only lock my car when what is in there is worth more than what it would cost to replace the window. This only, of course, holds true if the car is parked in a well-lit, well-traveled public place. If you park in the dark corner of a parking lot, you're screwed no matter what. They'll break into your car for your change (but of course only pick out the good coins, you know).
What really irks me, though, is no matter what you do, you still get screwed in the end. You, not them, have to replace the window, or replace what they lifted. So something that cost you nothing to get but is valuable to you (like a parking pass, for example), someone's thoughtless selfishness means you have to now dole out money to replace it and then live in fear that someone else is going to steal from you. I hate having to live and work in a place where I feel the need to lock my door every day. I want to live somewhere where I can actually trust the people I'm around not to do something dumb or selfish.
Now to go to Parking Services and report a stolen parking pass.
