So if you don't answer the phone, do you answer the door?

[knowitallstrikesagain]

I don't always answer the phone when it rings. I have had comments from (old) people about this, asking how I can be uncontactable when I have a mobile. But I go one step further...

Sometimes I don't answer the door!!!!

I am often in my living room meaning I have full view of who is at the door and if it is someone I don't recognise, mostly I ignore it. This really infuriates people, normally door to door sales or charity collecters, who can see me looking at them. They make 'open the door gestures', ring again, probably wondering if I am deaf or have phobias, then leave cross and bemused. I have been told this is mean and I should answer the door to them. But I don't want to.
AIBU?

Where I live, if you don't answer the door people will assume you are not in and break into your garage I'm scared of someone trying to get into the house if I don't answer.

I always answer it now - have met some fairly improbable doorstep charity / scrap-metal collectors this way, such as the twelve-yo boy on a school day who had walked right up to the window across the grass and had a good look in before knocking.

It's probably better if, unlike me, you have a car on the drive which would discourage certain types.

I don't answer the door, I had too many years of rushing out of the bath/toilet to frantic door banging/bell ringing just to find it was my pain in the ass neighbour wanting to sit in my house!

Kipperandtiger. The police didn't turn up, when he saw us in the kitchen, i had to answer the door and he called the police off.

His excuse was he could hear cbeebies and he heard ds laugh so he assumed I had left ds unattended. I made an excuse about being in the shower. I was really annoyed. He isn't the first person I have had altercations with over not answering the door, a female delivery driver tore a strip off me because I took too long to answer the door once, I was upstairs changing ds's nappy at the time!