A warning label on a household iron read: Never iron clothes while they are being worn.

A label on an ink cartridge for a laser printer read: Do not eat toner.

Common sense says that for these warnings to be printed in the first place, someone ironed pants while wearing them and ate a toner cartridge.

Sean P. Murphy is Web editor. He can be reached at smurphy@vicksburgpost.com.

Such nonsense shows the most basic lack of common sense by some consumers. Even a starving person, with some intelligence, will look at an ink cartridge and conclude it is not ingestible.

So how do these nonsensical warnings pertain to Vicksburg? Pick up a newspaper, any day, and read the crime section. Find the item plaguing our city — the theft of items in vehicles. Too many of these reports contain the word “unlocked.” In these unlocked cars, missing items include iPhones, computers, guns, money, televisions and Girl Scout cookies.

It would be wonderful if we lived in an Andy Griffith world where the police take cat naps during the day and the most excitement officers see is saving a wayward cat in a tree, but we don’t. We live where thefts are rampant.

If it could be done, we would snap our fingers and all the crime committed here would disappear. People would show respect for others’ property. We would live in harmony with the soothing sounds of a harp in the background, but no such finger-snapper exists.

Locking the car door at least will provide a bit of a deterrent for would-be thieves. Keeping valuables out of the car, even in the trunk, would provide another level of deterrence.

The last thing anyone should be doing is blaming the victim, but day-after-day of reading about burglaries of unlocked vehicles begs the question: Why aren’t these vehicles locked? Potential victims should at least take steps to lessen their chances of being a victim. An unlocked car door allows a would-be thief to easily enter and search while drawing little, if any, suspicion.

We should all hope one day a solution will be found to eliminate this scar on the community. We should root for the police to continue their efforts tackling an ever-growing problem. We must also realize, however, police cannot patrol every street at every second of the day. To assist, we should employ common sense.

Just as one shouldn’t attempt to use an electric hair dryer in the shower or use Silly Putty as ear plugs, one shouldn’t leave an iPhone in an unlocked car in an area with an auto burglary problem.