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.

I don’t always answer the door if I’m busy. We have cameras so I can see if it’s anyone I need to answer to.

Friends don’t bother knocking the door, they just come round the back of the house and just walk in.

I answer my phone.

I think amazon would be a bit brassed off if I didn't answer the door for all (ASD) DD's parcels.. ;-)

I never answer the door and never answer numbers I don’t recognise.

If I ignored numbers I don't know, I would miss lots of important calls from businesses/doctors/hospital etc... I nearly always open the door too. I would find it weird not to. On Sunday an unexpected caller came but it was a man to fix our broadband - we didn't realise he was doing overtime on Sunday. If we hadn't answered the door, we'd have no WiFi!

The only people I know who do this have debt collectors chasing them.

I do answer my front door now. But back when I was with exH, and we lived in military housing, it was an unwritten rule on the patch that no one ever used their front door. If someone came knocking on the front door, it would be someone official, bad news, or deliveries. I remember once when exH was deployed, a gas engineer I wasn’t expecting knocked on the door and I shit a brick.
My grandmother also has never used her front door. Always the back. “Front door is only for police or priest!” 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I have a little spy hole in the door. If I see a clipboard I don't answer. I'll answer it to everyone else.

I've got a camera, so I would open it if it was someone I knew, or a parcel delivery. I wouldn't answer otherwise.
I never answer my phone to anyone except DC.

Put on the spot? But they’re not going to be asking you something you don’t know the answer to. They will tell you why they’ve knocked on your door.

This is really bizarre behaviour OP.

It's very odd to not answer your door! I also answer my door, even if I am not expecting anyone.
My neighbour has just knocked on the door, wasn't expecting her, but still opened it and had a chat.

My door is solid wood, so no window to check who is there, but I still answer it.

Or a filthy house they don't want anyone to get a glimpse of.

I don’t answer the door if I’m not expecting anyone or the phone if I don’t know the number. I get emails and text alerts so I know if a parcel is due, and I’m not under my GP or hospital for any care that would explain an unknown number trying to contact me. It might only be a couple of minutes to answer the door or phones to say ‘no thank you’ to a cold caller but it’s still an interruption if I’m in the middle of something and an interaction I don’t want to have. I certainly don’t cower away or live in fear! I just ignore and get on with my day.
Just a word of caution for people who are using sites to google scam numbers - I have blocked a couple of numbers based on comments on these sites, and later found out the numbers were genuine companies calling for legitimate reasons. (Still not worthy of answering my phone though!!)

I have to admit to being a bit like you OP! I have a 'no cold-caller, salespeople or religious bodies' type of sign on my door now - this seems to have worked. Then if I do get a knock, it's likely to be someone I wouldn't want to miss so I don't need to do the 'shall I answer or not?' anxiety dance behind the curtain :)

I'm an adult, so am quite qualified and happy to answer both the phone and door.

Of course i answer the door. If it something I'm not interested in then I just say so.

In fact my door isn't even usually locked (or sometimes even closed if the weather is nice)

I do the same. Feel like I'm being spied on if they can see me.

For all the people wailing about how odd this is, it really isn't. If you aren't delivering something or haven't at least text to say you are coming, don't be rude and assume you can come over. It's also quite a big struggle for people who are ND but classic Mumsnet - If I don't struggle with it or experience it then it's definitely everyone else who is wrong and weird🙃

I get quite regular parcels ordered by teens, partner random work is also delivered for other half - what do you think will happen if you open YOUR door?

For the record I am ND but I've done a lot on my boundaries. If it was someone wanting to visit I'd be able to tell them not today.

I’ll never answer the door while I’m home alone if it’s not someone I know. The tiny chance of it being someone with sinister motives is enough to put me off.

Or maybe they are sick of cold callers turning up? Especially when trying to WFH where, according to Mumsnet, you can't have ANY distraction. No kids, no pets, no DH working in the same office space, don't you dare order a takeaway for lunch, have a shower, do any housework or pause to fart because you should be WORKING 😆

Goodness, that’s a very unusual response. What makes you think everyone who knocks on your door is a dick head , and I’m not even sure what to say about the whole they aren’t important enough for me thing,

hiding is one thing, but deciding everyone is a dick head and you’re a very important person so only respond to similar, even though you don’t even know whose there is very unusual

I always open the door, the only time I'd worry is if it was the middle of the night. Although I'd still want to know who it was! I can see shapes through the glass so often know who it is, but even if not I'd still open it unless I was specifically trying to avoid someone!!

I'd also like to point out that some people have genuine reasons to fear answering the door that aren't a dirty house or a debt collector. Like being the victim of a crime, stalker, DV etc.

It really isn't as stupid as MN make it out to be and it's not childish to not want to face a stranger on your doorstep who has no genuine reason to be there.

Not unusual at all. I'd wager that anyone who feels they are entitled to go chapping away on doors to sell you goods, religion or try and scam you into giving to charity is a bit of a dickhead. Those kind of people feel they are entitled to harass people, which makes them Dickheads.