Am I the only person who never opens their front door to anyone?

[jugglingjugs]

I just heard my front door go, so I hid in the kitchen out of sight, no idea who it was but I'm now very curious.
I wasn't expecting anyone, if it was family I would have answered because they wouldn't come unannounced.
I also never answer my phone if I don't recognise the number. Is this just me or does anyone else do this?
I have never really thought about why until now.

@adulthumanfemalemum I don't answer my landline because most people I want to talk to would call/message my mobile. The vast majority of calls on my landline are scams/call centres & if I unthinkingly answer them, they breed like rabbits!! & the bloody phone doesn't stop.

The vast majority ask for a woman who lived here over 15 years ago. I've taken to saying 'only if you can speak to the dead' but they clearly haven't removed the number from their data base. I tried for ages to get rid of them all, but actually just not answering seems to have been the best way to reduce them.

I have an answer phone so I can hear them & answer IF I want to. Though it's full of sakes/scam calls now, so they can't leave a message. I can check the number & see who has called IF I want to.

I answer the door, but at night I check through the lounge window who it is. No ring camera & no spy hole.

Never before have I known so many people to be terrified of life as there are on MN. 🙄

Erm… except for the op. She was very much hiding in the kitchen. That’s what she says in her op. I didn’t say anything about screaming and crying though.

We answer it as live in a small town with very few decent shops. So Evri Amazon and ds's clothing orders get delivered. I do not answer the mobile to an unknown number however in case they are spammers. They can always leave a voicemail or send me a text if they have nothing to hide.

I always answer the door and always answer the phone. I am an adult. As long as it’s not an axe wielding madman I can deal with most scenarios.

OP - I am the same, I don’t answer my mobile if it’s an unknown number, unless I recognise the number as a local landline.

As for my front door, I have a Ring doorbell so I can monitor if I know who is at my door. I also have a porch so all deliveries are left in the front porch (my inner front door is locked at all times, the outer front door is unlocked to allow deliveries to be left)

I have a chronic illness (low grade non-Hodgkins lymphoma) so I get tired really easily and can’t move around quickly so I can’t go rushing to the front door, hence why we got the Ring doorbell so I can ignore it if needs be. If I have any family and friends visiting, they know to let me know beforehand they are coming, and they know to give me time to get to my front door.

@jugglingjugs I'm the same, I do have a look out of a discreet window and if it's not someone I know I won't answer, the same with my phone, if I don't know the number I don't answer unless I'm expecting a call from somewhere but I am nosey and will google the number if I can lol

People are very mean to others. Perhaps OP has a genuine anxiety about answering the door and phone to someone unknown, why should people mock that?

I don’t like answering the door or unknown numbers either. I am autistic and struggle with the uncertainty.

I have an intercom so always answer
It's been stuff like
My car rolled (handbrake fail)
Neighbours had a parcel
Neighbours having a BBQ and inviting me
Neighbours bringing cake
Surprise visit from my dad
Medication delivery I wasn't expecting

A ring doorbell or similar camera on the front door would solve all this hiding in the kitchen anxiety. And you get to see who was calling!

I once knocked on a neighbours door to tell them they had a parking ticket (must have forgotten to renew their permit), as cars get towed very quickly on my road. I saw some curtain twitching, so I knew they were in, but they didn’t answer. Answering the door that day could have saved them £200.

Nope. It’s fucking weird behaviour. I don’t know any three-dimensional people who do this. Because it’s weird.

There are some really arsehole-ish, sneering replies here.

I track all of my parcels so I know roughly when to expect them. I have also been known to hang out of an upstairs window to talk to a daytime door-knocker (invariably someone from Virgin Media or the local milkman drumming up subscribers).

However, I'm autistic, I have ADHD and I have multiple chronic illnesses, which means I desperately struggle with housework - and that's before we get to the fact that the house has been half-decorated since I moved in three years ago. I feel like I'm clinging to "barely habitable" by my fingertips and I worry that an unexpected knock may be a neighbour popping by, expecting to come in.

I haven't had the boiler serviced since I moved in three years ago, I didn't change broadband providers last year because they needed to send an engineer out, and my own parents have never seen my current house because I'm so embarrassed and overwhelmed. Hiring a cleaner or a decorator isn't an option so I'll just continue to not take a chance with unexpected visitors.

The only time I don't answer is if I've seen it's a chugger/sales visit in time to pretend not to be in.

I don't answer my phone unless I know the number/am expecting a call but that's because everything else will be sales or scammers.

*I don’t know any three-dimensional people who do this.

@Peapodburgundybouquet
*
What does this mean?

Same, unless feeling a bit cranky. Hate not knowing who is going to speak.

I have a ring doorbell, if it’s an unsolicited visitor I can just ask what they want. If it’s obviously one of the veg box, cleaning, window selling, tree felling services sales people that seem to knock all the time I ignore.

MN is full of socially anxious/inept people, more than the general populace.

I dont usually answer the door unless Im expecting someone or something, like a parcel.
More often than not, it will be someone trying to sell something.
I will, however, look through the peep hole (no ring doorbell as of yet, but its a plan!) to see who it is. If it turns out to be a neighbour, I will answer.

I also dont answer unknown phone numbers, and have my phone set to block private numbers. I do have Voicemail active, so I figure if it is important, theyll leave a message or send a message.

Again, this changes if Im expecting a call from someone whose number I might not have (like if I applied for a job or something)

No I don't answer the door either unless expecting someone or its someone I know.

I have a spy hole in the door and if I don't recognise them or am expecting someone or if it's not obviously a delivery person/postman/gas man then I don't open the door.

Why would you? Round here we get lots of people trying to 'sell shit' out of a bag who are well dodgy and get really aggressive if you say no or charity collectors and so on.

I don't really understand why people think it's weird not to answer the door! Life it much easier and less hassle if you don't.

vm.tiktok.com/ZMYWap3WR/

I don't open my front door unless I have to. My bell doesn't work and I don't always hear the knock but I wouldn't open it anyway, except for grocery deliveries. Other stuff I order online is put in my 'safe place'.

Here's a handy dandy list of dickheads that don't deserve my time, in no particular order:

Kitchen sellers
Window sellers
Charity knockers
people that want to 'chat'
Capita scum working for the BBC
survey people
tory types
middle class wannabes
Labour types
And anyone thinking that my finite time should be wasted on them.

I hope that helps.

it looks like a dodgy link but it's a TikTok video showing how people of diff generations react when the doorbell rings

I understand completely.

Unknown number calling...nope, leave a message and I will then decide if I will get back to you.

Knock on the door...check camera....Betty from up the road...nah, not gonna be stuck talking to her for 30 mins about shite.
Man with clipboard and high viz jacket with rival ESB company on it...sling it mate.
Window cleaner, how's it going mate, here is your money.
Random bloke standing there...not today sunshine.
Delivery Guy, thanks so much, lovely sun today thank God.
An acquaintance calling in for a cuppa and just knocking of the off chance with her brat kid...jog on.

This is me. You're not alone, OP.

My family and friends know not to show up unannounced. I only hide from the window cleaner, so there's that...

*also hide from the window cleaner, that is