s/o from wknd randoms - do you open the door?

[cville]

Sept 30, 2024 9:48:20 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Sept 30, 2024 9:37:10 GMT -5 cville said:

Yes. And I'm a sucker so it's how I've ended up with recurring donations to the humane society, public radio, the state democrats' organization, and doctors without borders.

My husband would like me to stop answering the door to save us all money. Can't stop, won't stop.

H and I always say that we do not do donations at the door, but that they can leave us information about their cause and we would be happy to research further and consider donating. We're not against supporting good causes, but never will I do it under pressure or a split second decision. There are a lot of factors that go into choosing which organizations I want to support. Most of them can't produce a pamphlet or even give me a website so that's a huge red flag. 

Sure. I vet before signing up and turn down plenty.

[nicolewi]

Honestly, I wonder if this is partly an age thing??

I think it's super weird not to open the door if people can see that you are home?

I generally do open the door, unless I see that it's someone I really don't want to talk to and can pretend I'm not home.

We don't get a lot of people coming to the door, though.

[penguingrrl]

I always answer if someone knocks. But door to door sales are really rare in my area. I’ve had a pest company come 2-3 times and never in my life had any other salesperson show up at my door, so it’s not a frequent issue.

[lab7979]

No, I never answer the door. We keep our front door and garage door shut at all times pretty much. There is no window on the front door so people can't see me. If it's someone I know I'll answer. It's usually someone selling something though. All of our friends and family know to just walk in or come in through the garage. Pretty much all of our family and friends know our garage code.

[shauni27]

in the 4 years at my current home, I think we have had 3 people show up at random? one was with a political campaign and I happily spoke with them, the other two with various churches and I told them politely I was not interested.

[glitzy07]

Yes, assuming I'm not on a work call or something.

Then again, I'm pretty quick about shutting down any sales pitches. My husband on the other hand, despite being a much bigger asshole that me generally, always gets stuck listening for too long to be way too nice, and he'll eventually say, "I have to talk to my wife" and I'll come shut it down. We once had a guy from a security system sit with us for way too long and then finally tell us that it would be a 5 year commitment. Bro, no, I'm not committing to any service of any kind for that long. Bye!

[mrsukyankee]

We have a ring doorbell, so I check that first.

[Gato]

Depends. I usually see the person/people coming so if it looks like Democrats getting out the vote, or a specific candidate I know or want to know, I’ll open the door to chat. Maine is very small town like that. If it’s salespeople, Mormons, etc, I’ll just let the dog bark her head off while I hide in my kitchen, which has no view to the street.

[ECB]

For the most part, no. I have a ring camera and I can usually see outside my front window to see who's here.

[plutosmoon]

Depends, I answer if it's an older woman it's probably one of my elderly neighbors and they keep ringing and knocking until I open the door. I also usually answer for kids, usually they are fundraising, selling girl scout cookies, or a random friend if DD's.

I don't usually answer the door if it's a man or younger woman I don't know. We had a rash of people knocking on doors, assaulting the person who answers, and grabbing what they can quickly get away with. Our local police were advising people not to open the door to anyone you don't know.

I have a giant window in my living room, I haven't found the right window treatments for it or any of my windows, so I'm easily visible. I don't get too many unannounced people at my door, so it doesn't come up much.

[pinkdutchtulips]

J and I were just talking about this last night as I mentioned alot of NextDoor posts seem to be about people opening the door to random strangers. 

I personally don't. Call it conditioning from my days of being a DV victim and not answering the door for fear it would set him off if I/he weren't expecting anyone or just being a single woman w a child. If I'm not expecting anyone, I'll take a peek through the peephole and ignore them. 

J is the opposite, he'll open the door. Ahhh to be a man and not have to worry about your personal safety. 

[heyyounotyouyou]

I open the door. I can count on 1 hand the number of solicitors I’ve gotten in 15+ years. At first I thought it was because I was gone most days working but I’ve worked from home for 5+years and people just don’t knock on my door. I’m always surprised when people say they get a ton of solicitors.

I’m not counting kids selling stuff in the neighborhood. I’ve gotten those a handful of times throughout the years.

[donutsmakemegonuts]

I'm always surprised when a salesperson shows up and knocks on my door. My house is down a long driveway off a court, so it takes some effort. Also, I thought door to door sales was a dying art lol. I can't imagine they drum up that many sales doing it these days. It actually seems outright dangerous now because you never know who/what is going to answer the door.

Most of the time I'm not answering if someone knocks or rings the doorbell. We like to keep our main door open for some light and the storm door is all glass, so it's kind of obvious that someone is home and just not answering the door. You would think that they would get the hint after awhile, but some of them like to make is super awkward but continuing to knock. We get a lot of pest control sales, solar panel sales, sometimes roofing companies, but our roof it fairly new, so they suck at their job lol. I would and have bought Girl Scout cookies from a girl in our neighborhood, but that's about it.

[rhian]

If I'm available, I will. I don't really ignore it deliberately. But 95 percent of the time it's a package delivery (our delivery people often leave the package, ring the bell, and then leave - they don't usually need a signature) or solicitors, so I don't rush to answer if I'm in the middle of something. I've definitely just ignored it if I'm working or making dinner or getting the baby down for a nap, etc.

[eb777888]

Like others mentioned, I look at my Ring. We live in an area that gets a lot of solicitors. H opens the door to everyone and either tells them no thanks or settles in for a chat, depending on what mood he's in, lol. The only solicitors I open the door to are kids trying to sell something.

[sonrisa]

Apparently I’m the opposite of most of you. I’ll answer the door but I don’t set up my home in a way you can see me from the street/sidewalk or front porch.

I will never own a glass front door and any ground floor, street facing windows have top down/bottom up blinds so so one can see me. I’m not fond of being visible to random people on the street. We just moved into so where with 2nd floor living areas and I’m itching to get top down blinds put in so people walking on the sidewalk across the street aren’t looking right in.

[momin2013]

Pretty much never. I check the Ring - if it’s a friend of DS’ (rare), I’ll call to him that so and so is at the door, and let him answer it (or not). If it’s the next door neighbour (also rare) I’ll typically answer because they usually are stopping by for a reason. Anyone else - very unlikely that I’d answer, unless it’s a delivery or something that I’m expecting.

Let me say, this is why I’ve always preferred solid doors with just a peephole. No sidelights either, so there’s literally no way anyone can see into my front entranceway.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Sept 30, 2024 8:40:55 GMT -5 candreco said:

I don't answer if it's not someone I know. I don't care if they know I'm home or not, I might be in the middle of making dinner, a workout, a meeting. Exceptions for kids, I'll at least answer the door even if I'm not buying whatever their selling.

My dog also barks her head off when someone comes to the door, and while she really just wants to meet the new person, she sounds very intimidating, so that helps move people along.

I was forever grateful that my jack russells sounded like german shepherds and were AMAZING at keeping people away. 

[mcppalmbeach]

Sept 30, 2024 10:14:08 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

Honestly, I wonder if this is partly an age thing??

I think it's super weird not to open the door if people can see that you are home?

I generally do open the door, unless I see that it's someone I really don't want to talk to and can pretend I'm not home.

We don't get a lot of people coming to the door, though.

I think it is ages I’m 45, I usually open the door and I feel like you can see in and therefore I have to. I don’t know why. My parents have a solid door and their front blinds are often closed so they could totally hide, but they don’t. They also answer phone calls for numbers they don’t know and will answer no matter how busy they are and ask to call the person back. Like, just don’t pick up the phone

[InBetweenDays]

Usually, yes. Sometimes I'll see a solicitor walking up the street with a clipboard, etc. and I may not answer it. But usually I do.

[RoxMonster]

It depends who it is. Our dog goes absolutely nuts to the point we can’t open the actual front door. H or I have to walk out through the garage and meet them in our driveway. So knowing that, if I’m home alone in shitty sweatpants and no bra, I’m not walking out to talk to you in my driveway lol unless it seems very urgent (we don’t have a Ring we can talk through).

Otherwise, yes, we usually go out if it’s a neighbor or someone we don’t know who doesn’t appear to be selling anything. Also we have a power pole in our yard so occasionally get the utilities company knocking wanting access and we answer then. But our neighborhood legit gets a solicitor at least every other week going door to door and no, if I see someone with a clipboard and a company shirt, I don’t go out.

[bunnies]

Hard pass. We don't answer the door unless it's a delivery. The solicitors are unrelenting around here, despite 2 "no soliciting" signs.

[lo]

I always do…. We live in a door knocking kind of neighborhood. I’ve barely ever had sales people. Like last week a child neighbor knocked on my door because my daughter got bit by a dog down the street (she’s fine). I don’t have a ring camera so I just had to cross my fingers and pray it wasn’t an ax murderer or Jehovah’s Witness.

[sadlebred]

Unless I'm expecting someone, I check the Ring first.

[glw]

Always.
If it's someone I don't want to talk to I will tell them I'm not interested and then close the door.

[rosiebear]

Not anymore, unless I am expecting someone or if it’s a child. We’ve had some weird/scary events in my neighborhood with people knocking at all hours and trying to push their way in or just repeatedly coming back after being told they have the wrong house.

That said, I’d respond in some way if a person was claiming to be in distress; I would not just pretend to not be home.