to be mad that a complete stranger just opened my front door?

[Truffleshuffler]

Was sitting in my living room this evening with DS (22 months) asleep on my lap when I hear a knock at the door. Dogs start quietly barking and I start panicking. Should I open the door holding sleeping child? Should I run upstairs and put him in bed and then go to door? All the while dogs are getting louder impatient. Am worrying that dogs will wake up DS. DH is out.
I take DS upstairs and mystery caller decided to ring doorbell. At this action dogs in their excitement manage to escape from kitchen and stand at front door. Hurry downstairs to see the front door being opened by complete stranger to be met with my 2 barking dogs so he quickly closed it. I get to the front door and see man walking away.
He tells me that he is a friend of PIL and is here on business and called to visit my DH.
AIBU to expect:

1. Visitors to phone first
2. Strangers not to open my front door

YANBU to be mad that someone opened your door. You should keep it locked in future.

(I have to keep the security chain thing on to stop my mother from just marching in)

YANBU....I would be absolutely raging and would tell the person in no uncertain terms....

Cheeky s*d....

YANBU at all!!! Wow!

He should have ideally phoned first but I don't think there is necessarily any problem with this - not everyone does this.

However he was very very unreasonable to knock / ring the bell more than twice as clearly if you don't answer it in this time you are busy / asleep / don't want to.

He was double unreasonable to open the door. I mean wtf??!!! I'd be speaking to PIL and ask them to pass on your anger that a complete stranger feels its reasonable to just open the bloody door when you had not answered. I wouldn't even be happy if a close friend or family did this never mind a complete stranger. You could have been naked, on the loo, anything.

Totally and utterly unreasonable.

No you are not being unreasonable but shouldn't your door have been locked???

YANBU!

Cheeky isn't the word for it!

What would he have done if your dogs hadn't barred his way?

I dread to think.

I don't really answer our door, but there's no way I'd expect anyone (whether I knew them or not) to open it and let themselves in.

You need to be having words with your PIL and see what they say about him.

No-one should just walk in your house!

Why on earth is your front door open?

But, more to the point, why are you panicking when someone knocks at the door?! Surely this is a fairly routine experience, and your child is 22 months not a newborn!

Sounds like you're trying to start the beginning of a story ...

YANBU but you should lock the front door from now on.

What the fuck? He opened the door? Who the fuck does he think he is, how darn rude!

Do you live in the same house as your PIL?

This sort of thing is why I keep my doors locked and the key in the lock, so mother who has a key can't just let herself in.

I agree it is a bit strange that you panicked that someone was knocking on the door.

Did he have a key?

Totally unreasonable of him to just open the door!

But also slightly strange that you panic if the doorbell rings and can't answer it without putting your child to bed first - what's all that about?

I think YABU - if you don't want someone opening your front door surely you just need to lock it?

I lock our doors, but only because I know that if someone did try the door after knocking it'd be because they were up to no good.

Why else would you walk uninvited into someone elses house?

Seriously Gaston? So it's reasonable to let yourself into stranger's houses if the door isn't locked?

I only lock my door when i go to bed. If I'm in, it's usually unlocked. So? It would still be unreasonable for anyone to let themselves in.

OP, did he mention your PILs or DH by name? Sounds dodgy to me.

Had you left the porridge out to cool?

I disagree Gaston, just because someone's left their car window open, that doesn't mean it's OK for me to nick it.

I dislike the fortress mentality putting responsibility onto the victim for any crimes, blame lies squarely with the wrongdoer.

Not that this is the case with the OP, thankfully.

Did he use the names of your PIL and DH, and did he have a key? Because that story sounds very fishy to me. Bit like the man who rang our bell several times at 10.30 then, when DH opened the door, said "wrong door" and pegged it down the street.

Ok, firstly, reason I panicked was only that my dogs were barking and I didn't want DS to wake up. Perhaps panic was too strong a word to use.
Secondly reason door was not locked was the DH asked me to leave it unlocked for him coming home, must add that where I live it is quite normal for your door to be left unlocked.

1. YANBU I would expect people to call if they weren't well known by everyone in the household.

1. Did he say PIL or did he call them by name? That would be a clue as to whether he was a bit rude, or attempting burglary. I live in a rural village, strangers walk in all the time usually when I'm being lazy and am still in pjs or less. I've even had the district nurse try to inject me with medication meant for one of the neighbours. However I still think it's unreasonable.

I live in a terribly naice area myself - next door still got burgled last year during the day when she was down the bottom of her quite considerable garden and opportunist thief nicked her handbag and quite a lot of silver. I think this man was trying his luck.

I understand the dog barking/slumbering child induced "panic" actually. I wondered if people coming to the door frightened you for some reason.