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Teen, Mother Shot During Argument At Door - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando (http://www.local6.com/news/16705556/detail.html - broken link)
Here is another story that should drive home that we shouldn't be opening our doors to just anyone. This is no more then about 10 minutes from my house.
I heard the helicopter go over, not sure if it was the police or ambulance but it was flying VERY low. When I heard it I went to make sure the doors were locked. You never know at the time why the helicopter is around.
It's stories like this that I constantly tell hubby to not open the door to people you don't know. Just because someone knocks at the door, doesn't mean you have to answer it. He's also really bad about leaving the back door unlocked and the garage door up. I say anyone can just walk into the house ya know?!?
EVERYONE I know has my cell phone number. They all know me well enough to call before stopping by. So if there's a knock at the door it is most likely NOT someone I want to see.
I do peek out and will answer if it's the neighbor, or something obvious like the water company person coming around to tell us they're shutting it off to work on a leak or whatever (but only when I can clearly see the uniform AND the company vehicle).
Otherwise they can pi** off and stand there all day for I care! I have "no trespassing" signs up for a reason.
I know it sounds kind of loony but my home is my sanctuary. I don't like my privacy interrupted at ALL. I will gladly welcome you in and offer you a drink.... just call first.
One morning I woke to the dogs barking like crazy and looked out the window to see a guy in my backyard! Parked next to my house was a big black truck, and I had a six foot wood privacy fence with a gate that he'd entered. The dogs were going nuts but thankfully for him they kept their distance.
I had a wireless doorbell setup on the gate that he'd failed to use. It's hard to explain but the house was basically a "garage apartment" setup that was situated in the "backyard" of another house on a double lot. So the only way to my front door was through the gate and around to my door. So, I had a doorbell (very obvious) for exactly this reason.
I came running out and asked him exactly who the heck he was and what the you-know-what he thought he was doing. Turns out he was from the water company ( I checked the ID) and they wanted me to put some tablet in my toilet and flush it (to change the water color) so they could find their leak.. but this guy was in plain clothes and in his own truck. I reminded him the he's in Texas and if he kept it up he was taking the chance of getting shot and that he should at least let one of the guys in uniform go around door to door if they're going to randomly be entering closed gates! I also told him he should thank his lucky stars my dog didn't bite him. Idiot.
I'm the same way about the house phone though. I don't have an answering machine or voicemail for it and if I don't feel like answering it, I don't. My mom thinks this is crazy, but the way I see it, the phone is for MY convenience, and I refuse to be a slave to it. I do have a cell phone with voicemail and if I can't get to it I will return calls promptly but I don't feel any compulsion to run and answer it either, when I'm otherwise occupied.
I had a situation about six months ago when someone was banging on my door at 1:00am . I tried to look out of the windows but they were condensed up because of a cold front that came through and I couldn't see anything. My house sits back kinda far from the road so whoever it was had to walk down my long dark driveway. There was NO WAY I was opening that door, I didn't even bother asking who it was. They kept banging for awhile so I called the cops. By the time the cops arrived the person was gone. For all I know it could have been several people out there waiting to do a home invasion. I have storm doors that I keep locked, so I knew if I heard them try to break the storm door to get ready for action. People are getting brave nowadays, so you just never know. All of my friends and family know to call first.
This is a good reminder for all of us. My Mom was always the one to remind us of the safety stuff, lock the doors, check before opening the door, never park near a van, etc. Ironically enough it was she who opened the door to a stranger at 3AM and let in a hysterical girl who claimed to have been mugged. I thank God she had the sense to call a neighbor who came and sat with them until the police got there. They figured the girl was on drugs and may have wandered up the road from a bar. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves and others that even the most savy can forget.
In this day and age of cell phones anyone who you know at your door will have called you.
I'm not a fan of peeping through the window to see who it is. It's too obvious as the person maybe looking at the window as he's banging the door. I have a wide angle peephole that's basically a oneway window. I can tell who's at my door from feets away. I highly recommend it!
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