The back-story first. I was mowing the lawn earlier on the day, and left the attached-garage's door open as I came in to shower before leaving home. I knew I was going to be running out soon, so I payed no thought to leaving the garage Dior up. Also, we live in a cul-du-sac, so traffic is slim to none.
On to the incident. We have a broom closet near our entry door from the garage to the house. I was gearing up to walk out the door (shoes, belt and the like) when I hear the screen door open, the wooden door move and then a knock. Needless to say I was completely surprised, and my first reaction was to put my hand on the door and lean my weight against it, to keep it from opening, and to send a strong non-verbal message saying, "you are not welcome to enter..."
"Who's there?" I asked, in a rather strong (and hopefully un-inviting) tone. At thus point the adrenaline is flowing, and I'm hoping it's one of our friendly neighbors, otherwise I'm fearing things could go - um - not well.
"Fed-Ex," Replies the guy.
I opened the door, and all is well from this point. Time elapsed: 3 seconds max...
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What's worth discussing though, is that while my reaction to put my weight against the door was good, it wouldn't have been good enough. I leaned in with my strong hand, leaving my weak hand left to improvise as my knife was on my strong side. Had I been carrying a gun strong side, same problem.
And then the more obvious problems, such as, I shouldn't have left the garage door up, and should have probably locked the garage/house door as well. In short, take nothing for granted...
What I didn't appreciate from the driver was that he came inside my garage to knock on the house door. He may have been absent-minded and well-meaning, but I can't think of a single reason for him to not come to the front door first. Had he been scoping things out for a later date, he now knows what kind of cars we drive, what's inside my garage, and if he's really paying attention, knows a little about how to get inside.
But, the burden of responsibility falls on me, and I think this is clear evidence that I need to step up my game... Thoughts?
On to the incident. We have a broom closet near our entry door from the garage to the house. I was gearing up to walk out the door (shoes, belt and the like) when I hear the screen door open, the wooden door move and then a knock. Needless to say I was completely surprised, and my first reaction was to put my hand on the door and lean my weight against it, to keep it from opening, and to send a strong non-verbal message saying, "you are not welcome to enter..."
"Who's there?" I asked, in a rather strong (and hopefully un-inviting) tone. At thus point the adrenaline is flowing, and I'm hoping it's one of our friendly neighbors, otherwise I'm fearing things could go - um - not well.
"Fed-Ex," Replies the guy.
I opened the door, and all is well from this point. Time elapsed: 3 seconds max...
----------------------------------
What's worth discussing though, is that while my reaction to put my weight against the door was good, it wouldn't have been good enough. I leaned in with my strong hand, leaving my weak hand left to improvise as my knife was on my strong side. Had I been carrying a gun strong side, same problem.
And then the more obvious problems, such as, I shouldn't have left the garage door up, and should have probably locked the garage/house door as well. In short, take nothing for granted...
What I didn't appreciate from the driver was that he came inside my garage to knock on the house door. He may have been absent-minded and well-meaning, but I can't think of a single reason for him to not come to the front door first. Had he been scoping things out for a later date, he now knows what kind of cars we drive, what's inside my garage, and if he's really paying attention, knows a little about how to get inside.
But, the burden of responsibility falls on me, and I think this is clear evidence that I need to step up my game... Thoughts?