Your opinion please

[bgelber]

Tonight after I had "retired" to my room to relax for the night I heard the doorbell ring. I didn't answer it, this is not the first time this has happened. If it is well after dark and I'm not expecting you I am not NOT going to answer that door and if I am feeling generous enough to answer you will have a gun pointed at you. My daughter says that it is wrong I should answer the door, to which I replied it's my door we pay for it and I don't have to answer it if I don't want to. My family and friends know to call first.

So what are your opinions?

 

[redhen]

Well... i dont have many people that just show up at my house unexpected.... so if someone knocks at my door..i figure it might be important... so i answer it.

 

[piccolini]

I almost always answer the door. This is only because I figure if the can venture into our front yard with the 4 dogs, and our beloved goose who the mail man refers to as the 'guard goose', then they deserve a few moments of my time

If I were you, no, I probably wouldn't have answered the door.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I absolutely agree with you. You don't HAVE to answer the door, you don't HAVE to answer the phone. Especially if they didn't call first and aren't expected. HOWEVER, something could be wrong, a fire in the nieghbor hood, dogs in your yard... etc... maybe the person was trying to help you out, or catch their dogs or who knows what else... I probably would have answered it, with a gun.

 

[tcbfan5]

I agree with you..whatever you feel like doing,,, Do! Whether that be answer the door with a gun, or not answer it at all...If it was that important, they would call, or if it's your neighbor & their house is on fire, or some other type of emergency, they would pound relentlessly on your door for you to open it...

 

[Teach97]

might be the publisher's clearing house folks

then again it might be jack the ripper

then again it could be a nice little old lady that had extra cinnamon rolls

or it could be a vaccum sales person (not that there is anything wrong with that line of work)

could be a pregnant lady that had car trouble and no cellphone and needs to call

might be a tweaker...

I can see both sides...

 

[annie3001]

We don't get a ton of visitors, partly we are out in the country, people dont want to drive out here, however if there is someone at the door, i usually am cautious and get my 2 dogs with me first, second, I look out front and check to see if recognize the car etc. i never assume anything. Too many nuts out there.

 

[sourland]

Once again I agree with Redhen. I do not know what is coming over me.

 

[Ema]

I live in the middle of nowhere, most of everyone I know will call before showing up. those who don't call but show up are easily recognized by the loud roaring of the truck (my g/f) or the light honking of the car (my neighbour) other than that if someone shows up at my house and I am not expecting them and its late at night the door will remain unanswered. If its day time and a stranger shows up at my door my dh will deal with it.

but to be honest my 5 large dogs who have a pen next to the door deter any sales people or people trying to convince me to change religions from approaching the house. A couple summers back, someone showed up in the middle of the night, in the summer I open the back door to the mudroom and allow the dogs to stay out and have free roam of the pen and mudroom because it gets real hot for them in the house. This person made the mistake of trying to come in through the mudroom door, he got the door open and the dogs woke up and chased him down the street. In the process he fell in my garden, broke a lighthouse solar light with his fall and destroyed my roses. But I doubt this guy will ever come back around here, I live on a dirt road about half a mile from the nearest road/intersection, in a heavily wooded area. Anyways my dogs only gave chase and barked a whole lot, woke up the neighbour who is about 2 acres away. At this time I was home alone with my 2 small children cause my dh works out of town during summer months. the neighbour checked out the barn etc for me, and we got the dogs back in their pen.

the next morning I found a very nice and expensive mens mountain bike in the tree line to the side of the house, not sure what this guy was planning on doing..carrying stolen goods on a bike up a dirt hill?? not very bright indeed!!

so, if you live alone and you are not expecting anyone, I wouldn't answer it either seeing the late hour it was. But that is just me though!!

 

[michelle43]

Well...I would agree that you shouldn't 'have' to answer your door....but this is what happened to me the other day. I live out in the middle of nowhere when I get someone driving down my driveway late at night. I answered the door (warily) and it was someone who apparently had been driving down the road and almost hit my 2 mini horses that had escaped. I was really grateful and they even helped me catch them.

On the other hand....I used to work in law enforcement and thieves will typically knock on a door or ring a doorbell to see if someone is home. If no one answers, they then try to break-in.
Also, there's the other option that they are some crazed person wanting to do you harm. I may go to the door, but not open it if it's a male that I don't recognize. They can talk through the door just as easy. If they get irritated, I tell them to leave or I'm callin' the cops.

One last example....I had a guy come to my house when I lived in CA telling me he sold house alarms systems. He then proceeded to ask a ton of questions about my current alarm system and security. Of course, I didn't answer. I had to get on the phone with the cops before he finally left. Basically, he was a thief casing the neighborhood. Looking for houses with no alarms.

Moral of these stories....watch yourself and trust your instinct. Just because someone knocks or calls, doesn't mean you have to take any particular action.