Masaad Ayoob On Answering Your Door

P89DCSS · Nov 23, 2022

I live in a suburban neighborhood where I get visits from neighbors I know and neighbors I don't know. I can see faces on my surveillance system and if I don't recognize them I answer them with my Ring doorbell camera app on my phone.

That video is 10 years old. Technology has passed it by. If one's goal is safety, a surveillance system is the best way to go. I stay away from my front door when unrecognized individuals call on me. They can talk to the Ring and they know they're being recorded.

I was at work and I had a visit from a utility worker that needed access to my back yard. We spoke over the Ring camera. I could see his truck's gas company stickers and his hat. I gave him permission and asked that he be careful with my dog in the backyard. Then I watched him until he left.

Kleanbore · Nov 23, 2022

JohnKSa said:
Which could signal to the person that no one is home and make them think that a break-in is a good idea. The point is that whether you answer or not, there's a potential downside. Don't answer and you could be signaling them to go ahead and break in. Answer and you could make yourself vulnerable. A video doorbell is probably one of the best options since it gives the ability to signal that you are at home without making yourself vulnerable to the person at the door.

Very well put--that bears repeating.

Night Rider said:
What I meant specifically is if I don't know you, you're not welcome at my home.

Gosh!

Night Rider said:
As I mentioned earlier, if you knock on my door unexpectedly I can categorically assume I don't know you.

That assumption could well be wrong.

JohnKSa said:
A person from the neighborhood knocked on my door to inform me that the trunk on my car was open. ...A person from several streets over knocked on my door to deliver some mail that had inadvertently been sent to their address.

I have had both of those things happen. And there was the gas leak. And the notification that the water would be turned off.

P89DCSS said:
That video is 10 years old. Technology has passed it by. If one's goal is safety, a surveillance system is the best way to go. I stay away from my front door when unrecognized individuals call on me. They can talk to the Ring and they know they're being recorded.

Yep.

The Night Rider · Nov 23, 2022

Kleanbore said:
Gosh!

I don't like most people. You do you Boo.

Kleanbore said:
That assumption (that an unexpected knock on my door is most likely someone I don't know) could well be wrong.

It could be, but it hasn't been so yet.

My family has different mores than your family does. I don't show up at a friend's house unless I've been specifically invited.

The people in my circle (which is essentially my family) don't show up at my house unannounced. My family would certainly be welcome if they did but that's not how we do things.

So yes I can categorically state if you knock on my door unexpectedly you're not somebody I know.

But either way ( to bring us back to the main topic) if there's an unexpected knock on my door I'm going to look at the Ring app on my phone and see who it is.

If it's not somebody I know then I will ask them how I can help them through the speaker on my doorbell. I'm still not opening the door. I'm still not standing in front of the door. They still have no idea where I'm at in the house or even if I'm in the house and I'm still expended last effort than it would take me to walk to the door.

Take this for what it's worth, I lived in the barracks for 8 years. During that time my Barracks room was my home but my home wasn't my home.

At any given time anyone in my NCO Support Chain or Chain of Command could enter "my home" without my permission.

When I moved out of the barracks I found out my home still wasn't "my home". My Platoon sergeant had to approve me moving off post. He wouldn't allow me to move off post until he inspected the premises and approved them. They never actually did it but even after I've been approved to move off post "my home" was subject to inspection at any time just like my room in the barracks was.

That my have colored my views on the sanctity of my home.

Kleanbore · Nov 23, 2022

Night Rider said:
My family has different mores than your family does.

What makes you think so?

Night Rider said:
I don't show up at a friend's house unless I've been specifically invited.

Nor do I", usually but I wiill knock on the door of any neighbor if I notice something that he or she should be immediately aware of.

Night Rider said:
But either way ( to bring us back to the main topic) if there's an unexpected knock on my door I'm going to look at the Ring app on my phone and see who it is....If it's not somebody I know then I will ask them how I can help them through the speaker on my doorbell. I'm still not opening the door. I'm still not standing in front of the door. They still have no idea where I'm at in the house or even if I'm in the house and I'm still expended last effort than it would take me to walk to the door.

That sounds reasonable and prudent, on the face of it.

However, not speaking to someone whom you do not know could lead to a criminal's believing that you are not at home. That would not necessarily mean that you should always answer, but it is a risk to be considered.. Second, the person may be there to tell you something of which you would want to be aware. It's a judgment call.

bdickens · Nov 23, 2022

JohnKSa said:
Yes, people knock on my door when I don't expect it. Sometimes they have no business doing so, sometimes they do.

A couple of recent examples that come to mind.

A person from the neighborhood knocked on my door to inform me that the trunk on my car was open. Something went wrong with the releasing mechanism and it just came open. I was happy that the person knocked on my door to let me know about the problem even though I didn't expect the "visit" and happy that I answered the door even though I didn't know them.

A person from several streets over knocked on my door to deliver some mail that had inadvertently been sent to their address. In fact, this has happened twice in the past year or so. Once it was a package, once, believe it or not, it was my tax refund check. In both cases I was happy that they knocked on my door even though I wasn't expecting them and happy that I answered the door even though I didn't know them.

Who would have ever thought someone you don't know and wasn't expecting might have a legitimate reason for being at your door. Imagine!

The Night Rider · Nov 23, 2022

Kleanbore said:
What makes you think so?

Reading your posts.

Kleanbore said:
Nor do I", usually but I wiill knock on the door of any neighbor if I notice something that he or she should be immediately aware of.

Unless it's an immediate life or limb issue, I won't. It's been my experience all you're going to do is piss somebody off. They don't care and they don't want to be bothered.

Kleanbore said:
However, not speaking to someone whom you do not know could lead to a criminal's believing that you are not at home.

Which is why I have stated numerous times in this discussion that I would answer through the doorbell speaker.

Kleanbore said:
That would not necessarily mean that you should always answer, but it is a risk to be considered.. Second, the person may be there to tell you something of which you would want to be aware. It's a judgment call.

Which makes all of the above irrelevant

The Night Rider · Nov 23, 2022

bdickens said:
Who would have ever thought someone you don't know and wasn't expecting might have a legitimate reason for being at your door. Imagine!

I never said they didn't. What I said, very specifically was if there's an unexpected knock on my door I automatically assume that it's somebody I don't know because people I do know don't do that.

Phaedrus/69 · Nov 23, 2022

P89DCSS said:
That video is 10 years old. Technology has passed it by. If one's goal is safety, a surveillance system is the best way to go. I stay away from my front door when unrecognized individuals call on me. They can talk to the Ring and they know they're being recorded.

Pretty much this. I have a pair of Blink camera, purchased from Amazon on sale. IIRC one cost me $35 and the second was $18. If there's a knock at my door I grab my phone and bring up the live view; this action takes between 3 and 5 seconds depending on where I left my phone. And as JohnKSa points out there are countless situations where someone might knock on your door that are not nefarious. I'm not a very social guy but I'm on pretty good terms with my nearest neighbors. On occasion a package will be left at the wrong address or something. There are plenty of circumstances where someone might ring my doorbell.

crestoncowboy · Nov 24, 2022

Night Rider said:
So people just randomly drop in to visit you? With no warning at all? That is a completely foreign concept to me

Pretty common id imagine, believe it or not. Always been a way of life for many of us. Relatives. Friends. Strangers. "Is that old 50s model xxx for sale..." (its not) "boy/ girl scouts" "Jehovas witnesses" (annoying I know, but willing to be hated, cursed, shot at etc etc just because they feel they are saving your soul.....I try to humor them). I had two women pull up in a big Dodge truck trying to sell me steak the other day. I was outside working on an old c10, so I couldn't retreat and hide behind the door though. Just had to say no, and send them half a mile up to my neighbors just for fun. Knowing he is picky about his meats and orders them fresh from a specific butcher. No way he would ever entertain buying frozen steak. Lol. Strangers getting ATV stuck or something aren't rare either. I'm usually out working on something or on the tractor anyway so it's not so much answering the door. Last week some guys wanted to cut limbs off some old bushes that grow by the creek. They sell them apparently. For 40 years We burn them. Cut them. Doze them under.... kill one and 75 sprout back. Told them to knock themselves out.

I've spent about 1000 nights on my parents porch shelling or breaking beans, splitting potatoes to plant, or shucking corn. 50 yards from the road. Nearly all of those nights some person stopped and sat down and visited. Most times I know them. Sometimes I didn't, but more than a few I'd ask "who was that" and they say "I don't know" or "I think it was xxxxxx maybe. Not sure". After 2-3 hours of breaking beans I was never so much worried about someone just killing me. Pretty sure I even uttered that a few times. I don't even eat beans.

And Mass did state 2am. If I get a knock at 2am my response is far different. Id expect a call first. And a very good excuse just for the call because if my phones ringing at 2am I'm not happy. I'll be very guarded if I get a knock. And yes I'll be armed. And no I won't square up to the door. But at 2pm, I'm either outside and you will have to come find me sawing wood, mowing, feeding or something (negating all my tripwires, punji stake and gps enabled surveillance linked to the AC-130). As the old folks always told me back in my "heathen" days.... my doors always open.

And anyone that you ask about me around here would tell you, I'm not even the outgoing, social type either.

JTHunter · Nov 25, 2022

One stipulation - things like Ring cameras, et. al., that use an app on your phone, leave a lot of us "out of the loop" as we don't have (can't afford, don't want, etc.) a "smart phone".

The Night Rider · Nov 25, 2022

JTHunter said:
One stipulation - things like Ring cameras, et. al., that use an app on your phone, leave a lot of us "out of the loop" as we don't have (can't afford, don't want, etc.) a "smart phone".

But that's your choice.

Tilos · Nov 25, 2022

JTHunter said:
One stipulation - things like Ring cameras, et. al., that use an app on your phone, leave a lot of us "out of the loop" as we don't have (can't afford, don't want, etc.) a "smart phone".

Jebus
even more "what if"...
If you are that impoverished, you probably qualify for an Obama phone, free from the gument.
jmo,
.

Jeff White · Nov 25, 2022

And this one is done……

Masaad Ayoob On Answering Your Door

P89DCSS

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Kleanbore

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The Night Rider

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Kleanbore

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bdickens

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The Night Rider

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The Night Rider

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Phaedrus/69

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crestoncowboy

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JTHunter

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The Night Rider

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Tilos

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Jeff White

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