Someone just knocked on the door and I am livid!!!!

[UncleKyle]

Mskanga, sorry you've had to defend yourself. I don't know anyone who wouldn't have been mad if someone came to our back porch and knocked on the door. I do know some responses they would have gotten from my dad, he can't stand it when kids cut through our back yard.

Someone woke me up knocking on my door on a Saturday morning at 7:45. I used such lovely words when I asked them to leave.

 

[MelessaG]

Like SeaSpray, I feel the need to apoligize too. I was once one of those 'door to door' folks. However, I made it a point not to be pushy. I would have died before heading into someone's backyard (I'm shy to boot) and did avoid doors with "no soliciting" signs on them, even if when told they "didn't apply" to me. I certainly felt they did. My philosophy was that I wasn't going to find anyone interested in what I had to say if I had to shove my way into their home. I'm sorry for those of us, as I've seen metioned in this thread, who do otherwise. I wish they knew what a 'black eye' they give the rest of us with their actions.

 

[Luv2Roam]

If I did not answer the front and they went to the back I would think they were up to no good and call the cops. (And still not answer.)

I suppose this depends on state to state, but we were once told that anyone posting a Beware of Dog sign, and someone trespasses, is attacked by the dog, the homeowner is held more liable. (Ya, I know. Doesn't make sense. But this is sue happy America.)
By posting a sign like this, the owner is acknowledging they knew in advance they have an attack pet. (Which is the point. But... )

 

[arminnie]

I can handle the people who come to my front door and who call me, but I would also be livid if someone went in my backyard.

I don't know how other people's homes are arranged but mine has a substantial fence from the side around to the back. There is no alley. I would consider someone opening the gate to my backyard as bad as someone opening the door to my home.

My backyard is mine - it is not public property. Even the meters are not in that area. Before we had the fence someone did steal a lawnmower from under the porch in the backyard. I would assume that anyone who opened my gate and went in my backyard did NOT have good intentions.

In my case my dog would probably run away - and I would have to spend time trying to track him down. It would also be easy for a small child to wander off through an open gate.

Many people keep their backdoors open while they use the back deck/yard for family activities. I would be just as offended if someone opened my gate and came up on my deck as I would be if someone opened my front door and walked in my bathroom.

 

[decker96]

arminnie -- I couldn't agree more!

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

arminnie- I think this is the first time we agree (maybe more but I've only remembered the political posts ). Anyways I second everything you've said. People are welcome to come to my front door (though I don't always choose to answer), but someone coming to my back door is quite a different story. I probably would've called the cops and I certainly wouldn't have answered the door.

 

[Saphire]

I do not mean to offend anyone, but the door to door thing has got to go. It is very old fashioned and went out with letting your kids roam the streets from morning until night. We live in a different world now, and these groups need to update their methods. Gone are the days when the woman is home all day, and when she is, she is busy, and not able to open her door to strangers who want to come and 'visit' for an hour or more. Just like the traveling salesman, this approach is outdated. I completely agree with the OP.

 

[Mskanga]

Actually, they do have that right, its called free speech. You have the right to tell them to go away, ignore them or press charges if they don't leave you alone after you tell them to go away. They have the right to speak, no one says you have to listen.

That may be so but they don't have the right to trespass to private property to do that.

Just tell her not to answer the door when you are not there-and she won't have a stroke.

What do you think she does? she never opens the door to anyone , but to have someone knocking on the back door is enough to give her a stroke.

And as far as the dog is concerned, if the attack happens on your property and I have a posted no trespassing sign, the trespasser is on his/her own.

 

[arminnie]

Originally posted by Tink&SquirtsMom
arminnie- I think this is the first time we agree (maybe more but I've only remembered the political posts ). Anyways I second everything you've said. People are welcome to come to my front door (though I don't always choose to answer), but someone coming to my back door is quite a different story. I probably would've called the cops and I certainly wouldn't have answered the door.

I'm happy to agree with you here! Where in CA are you? I lived in Foster City, CA until 2 1/2 years ago. I don't think anyone has heard of Foster City if they are not from No. CA. (it's outside of San Mateo which is south of SF)

I was born in San Diego - went to graduate school at Stanford. I left San Diego at a very young age so really only know the Northern part of the state.

One time some religious people came around when I had first moved into an apartment in Foster City. My sister-in-law and I both opened the door in our pjs - they left and never came back.

 

[pw2pp]

I would have greeted them at the back door with my husband's shotgun.

Just the other day, I answered the door........ some guy is holding a bottle of some kind of cleaner in a spray bottle in his hand and says "Are you the Queen of the Castle?".
I immediately said "no thanks" and closed the door on him.
As soon as I closed the door, I thought to myself, "get the F*** off of my porch you son of a b****!"

Was I having a bad day? Well maybe I was, anyone got a problem with it?

I hate solicitors.
If I want to buy something, I will go to the store to buy it and if I want to check out a new religion, I will find it on my own.

Don't mess with me and my day off at home.

 

[battricia]

Originally posted by Mskanga
When the heck do they understand no means no????

I don't know, but maybe if you would have actually SAID no to them at the front door, rather than not answering the door, they would have understood? Instead of your first words to them being that you were calling the cops and your dog was about to attack them.

You seem extremely angry about this, and I personally just don't understand how people can get so angry about the situations. I've never once had a problem with anyone trying to push their way into my home when I say no, and I get A LOT of door to door solicitations, from religious people to candy sales to charities selling garbage bags to raise money. If I'm not interested in it I just say no thanks, and they say thanks for your time and leave. Funny how the people who usually complain about solicitations are also the people who don't seem to be very nice to the people doing the soliciting.

Also about the back door thing, some houses use their back door as their main entrance, so I wouldn't find it uncommon for someone to come to the back door, unless there was a locked gate. We use our back door to get into the house everyday, and most times when people come over they come in the back door. No biggie. Like I said, usually a kind 'No thanks' does the trick.

tricia.

 

[Hillbeans]

This thread is sooooo reminding me of the conversation I had with the AOL people when I was trying to cancel.

I said no thanks about 6 times but they kept trying to upsell me broadband which would have done me no good with my work laptop that I don't use AOL for. People who come door to door should only take one "no thank you" however lately people seem to be so aggressive that it takes saying no 8 times and getting upset for them to even leave.

 

[ZachnElli]

Originally posted by arminnie
I can handle the people who come to my front door and who call me, but I would also be livid if someone went in my backyard.

I don't know how other people's homes are arranged but mine has a substantial fence from the side around to the back. There is no alley. I would consider someone opening the gate to my backyard as bad as someone opening the door to my home.

My backyard is mine - it is not public property. Even the meters are not in that area. Before we had the fence someone did steal a lawnmower from under the porch in the backyard. I would assume that anyone who opened my gate and went in my backyard did NOT have good intentions.

In my case my dog would probably run away - and I would have to spend time trying to track him down. It would also be easy for a small child to wander off through an open gate.

Many people keep their backdoors open while they use the back deck/yard for family activities. I would be just as offended if someone opened my gate and came up on my deck as I would be if someone opened my front door and walked in my bathroom.

I agree with this entire post! My last neighborhood had tons of solicitors and my dh traveled for a living. So here I am with 2 small kids and strangers ringing my doorbell past their bedtime and it's pitch black out. I don't have to answer the door to that and if they came around back, I would have called the police first! No reason to go around back at that house or this house! I also have 3 dogs and they wouldn't attack but would love the opportunity to escape and I would be very upset if they opened the gate and one got out and got hurt!

 

[bumcat]

I thought Jesus and his disciples preached out in the open?
I don't recall hearing about them knocking on doors or peeping in windows or running around the back of a home to get someones attention.

I do remember Jesus and his disciples staying wherever they were WELCOMED but I don't recall them forcing folks to listen.

 

[phillybeth]

Originally posted by WDWHound
I recognize that their intentions are good (in most cases they really are concerned about the welfare of my soul)

Why would anyone be concerned about someone else's soul? Don't I remember something about attending to the beam in your own eye before the mote in your brother's? And something about he who is without sin casting the first stone? Where is the tolerance and respect that Jesus' message to the world?

 

[Beth76]

Originally posted by pw2pp
Just the other day, I answered the door........ some guy is holding a bottle of some kind of cleaner in a spray bottle in his hand and says "Are you the Queen of the Castle?".

This EXACT same thing happened to me just yesterday. Some kid was selling some sort of cleaner and asked if I was "Queen of the Castle". I did listen to his schpiel, but politely said no and he was on his way. I don't have the cajones to slam the door in someone's face.

 

[Mishetta]

So ironic this thread came up today when I had JW come to my door at 9am. Normally (because of summer vacation), I'm just getting out of bed but my 2 y/o is still sleeping & if someone rings the doorbell & wakes him up, I am not too pleasant. But what happened just moments before my doorbell rang, my neighbor called to "warn" me that "they" were headed to my house. (My phone is set on the lowest setting, therefore baby doesn't hear it ring.) There are 12 houses on our side of the block & we all know each other & starting from the first poor unsuspecting neighbor who answered her door, she then called her neighbor & so forth & so forth. Naturally, as soon as my doorbell rang, I called my neighbor to the right & she called her neighbor to the right, etc.., so none of us answered the door. Of course, some had their garages open, so I'm sure it must have looked suspicious when everyone's garage door was going down about 30 seconds apart from the neighbor to their left!

It seems that whenever we were caught off guard, as someone else posted, they don't go away! They stand there & keep talking even after you've said politely that you're not interested. So if they don't get the hint, I don't want to even open my door. I do believe in sharing the word of Christ, but I don't feel the need to invade other people's privacy. My neighbor is a Police Officer & he gets home at 7am....he's tired & by 9am, I'm sure he's already sleeping. Would it be fair that someone has to wake him to shove their religion down his throat? I'd like to know if they get some sort of prize depending how many people they recruit???!

Anyway, I think you handled the situation the same way that many of us would have! Yes, we also would have been livid too!

 

[goofygirl]

I'm surprised that salespeople and "people of a certain religion" still go door to door in this day and age. Its a crazy world, I'd be afraid of getting shot/kidnapped/mugged/raped, etc



It would freak me out as well if someone knocked at the back door after knocking at the front! You just don't expect that!

 

[DebbieB]

My Mom had an interesting situation a couple of weeks ago. 2 Morman women came to the door, they knocked when we were eating dinner. The front door was open (with a screen door) and they could see us in the kitchen so we couldn't not answer the door. My mom went to the door and went out on the porch to talk to them. I know my mom talks to a JW woman who comes around, I thought it was her so I didn't think anything of it. My mom has a hard time saying no, so she ended up talking to them for awhile and they gave her a Morman bible. They listed a homework reading assignment on a post it for the next time they came! When they came back, my mom said she did not feel up to reading it, she is currently getting chemo for breast cancer. They got huffy about it! I wasn't home, I told her she should have just given them their bible back (she shouldn't have accepted it in the first place) and said she wasn't interested. They have also been after the woman next door, they leave a card with a time they will be back and the neighbor always manages to be out when they come!

 

[totalia]

This is the modern day and opening your door to a stranger, even to just tell them your not interested, can result in a home invasion or worse.

It's called intelligence.

As for the free speech thing... your right, they can say whatever they want. However, they should not be accosting me on the street and then when I refuse, following me down the street to try to talk to me about it. They do NOT have the right to be on my property pedddling anything. That's tresspassing and its dangerous. They do NOT have the right to enter my work place and try to peddle their religion to be there when they know that because I am at work, I can't even tell them no because it would seem rude (yes I have had people do this to me).