Did I overreact?

[DaveP]

I'm growing crankier by the year. I live in a neighborhood with a lot of rentals. Tonight bang, bang, bang knock, knock on the door at 11pm. 11! I have kids asleep! My pup, my good boy, barks his giant Inuit Sled Dog alert. Very loud.

So I answer the door, some kid I've never seen before (20-ish?). Do I have a light (for his cigarette)? No, who the eff are you? And 'eff' wasn't the word I actually used..

I'm your neighbor... at which point I slammed the door in his face, hard. Our front door booms mightily when it's slammed.

I was watching a movie with my 15 year old girl at the time, and when the door encounter was done (all of 10 seconds) she said, 'wow, that escalated quickly'. Yeah, it did. But I think it was justified. So dimwit young neighbor knows he can't pound on our door late at night for no good reason. This is good information for a neighbor to have, I think.

[thriftygranny]

Nope, you didn't overreact, the kid needed a smack.

[DaveP]

I used to be nicer, I swear I was.

[Chantel]

That is nowhere near a good enough reason to knock on someone's door late at night.

And if one were to be so stupid as to do so, I would think they'd at least come up with a decent lie, and say that their hot water tank flame has gone out and ask if they can borrow your barbecue lighter or something.

[DaveP]

That is nowhere near a good enough reason to knock on someone's door late at night.

And if one were to be so stupid as to do so, I would think they'd at least come up with a decent lie, and say that their hot water tank flame has gone out and ask if they can borrow your barbecue lighter or something.

Yes, just looking for a house with no one who answers the door. And a story if someone does.

Could have been that.

[Chantel]

Ooh, didn't even think about that. I was just thinking this kid was braindead and thought that was perfectly polite to do at 11 pm. But you're right, it could have been a lot more sinister.

[beachdown]

OK...so your 15 yr old daughter in making that comment, heard you you use the "eff" word? There is a simple solution to that kind of incident, and it goes like this.....if you aren't expecting anybody and yo get a knock on the door, don't answer it and they will go away. This is what I have always done, and it works like a charm. If yo are the curious type, use the peep hole, or side window discreetly to see who it is.

I used to be nicer, I swear I was.

[Shwa Girl]

DaveP, you were doing everything right. Miss Manners would say that "visitors should arrive between 9 am and 9 pm. Strangers should not disturb their neighbours during night time hours."

Banging on the door-- not right at all!

[walkonby]

I used to be nicer, I swear I was.

ha ha ....we all were! Oh that whole encounter made me laugh, what was he thinking?? I guess he did not think cuz man he needed a light!!
Too funny, hey if he ever returns to say....borrow a cup of sugar, you be ready for him!! Answer the door like this!!

[Momof3girlies]

^^^ OMG!!

[thriftygranny]

Oh my I need to go find my eye bleach.

[dahliagrower]

You would have thought that the sound of a big dog's bark would be enough to send the kid on his way..... Too weird

[Shwa Girl]

Yes, just looking for a house with no one who answers the door. And a story if someone does.

Could have been that.

Yes, could have been that. If the guy was up to no good, he may have tried something if your daughter had answered the door at that time of night. In the GTA, they have tried home invasions when there were at least 4 people in the house, so your thoughts were still a possibility of what he was up to.

[ticul]

No, no over reacting in this situation. You have to be like this if not, they will come back. What they do (some of them) is they knock and if no one answer they will rob your home. We had this happen to us a few year back and they took almost everything we had and empty the 2 frizers. Believe me lots of crying there and they came back to steell my car. So, yea no over reacting there. If they knock at that time of the night, you sure know they are up to no good. So, DaveP you sure did the right thing. The cops did find the one that did this to us and other peoples. One got 3 years in jail and the others had 2 year. Believe me I was so happy that they found them as I really wanted for them to have consequence for theyr actions................................

[lecale]

.)