Unannounced visitors, pop-ins: Yay or nay?

Are unannounced visitors rude?

  • Yes, they should at least give a call before arriving

    Votes: 115 75.7%
  • No, my home is open to visitors whether expected or not

    Votes: 22 14.5%
  • Other: Well?

    Votes: 15 9.9%

  • Total voters
    152
Ugh, I would have hated that! Sorry OP!
There's absolutely no reason for someone to just pop in for a visit. They can take two seconds a few blocks away for a quick "Hey, I'm in the neighborhood - is now an OK time to stop by?"
 
Totally rude. I wouldn't even open the door to them.

My In-laws attempted this a few times when we were first married and quickly got the hint when I answered the door and said something like "I must have missed your call?".
 
I have an open door, and do not mind drop in guests. In general, my home is company ready so that is not an issue, but if the house is messy, I expect them to understand. I will say that when I was back in school, and spent most Sunday's on accounting homework, I sometimes put a Facebook Status that I was locked in the house held captive by an enormous amount of homework. Not once did anyone drop by when I did that. LOL!

The truth is that people deserve to keep their lives the way they like, and if drop in guests are not welcomed, others should respect that. I also think that if one does insist on dropping in, they should be prepared to be shooed away.
 

I voted other. I don't like drop ins at all. And I wouldn't even like it if someone called me and said they were on the way over without an invitation. In my world we plan times to get together. I am busy and I am selfish with my free time. If I want to spend time with someone then I will make plans to see them. It's just the way it is with us.
 
The only person who drops by my house unannounced when I am at home is my Mother. I also have a brother/sis-in-law who use my house as a touchdown spot when I'm at work. They live farther out of town and they use my house to kill time between appointments on occasion (they both see clients and sometimes the schedule has holes). I don't mind that at all but I asked them to leave a note when they do. It was freaking me out for a while that things were moved around when I knew I didn't move them.

But, other than yet, you had better call me if you plan to come over or I most likely won't let you in. I never drop in on anyone without calling first to make sure they are home and its a good time.
 
It depends on who it is. Our kids/grandkids are welcome anytime, no need to call, as is my best friend.

Anyone else, I would appreciate some warning.

I hate it when DH's Dad and step-Mom drop by with no warning. His Dad is fine, but it's his step-Mom that annoys me. She's the type that has a "perfect" house. Not a speck of dust anywhere, not a speck of dirt on the floor, etc. I am so uncomfortable in their house, it's just "too perfect." I am not a perfectionist and not the world's best housekeeper so even if I have just cleaned and they stop by I am constantly worried she will see dirt somewhere. But, they never give any warning, they just "pop in" whenever. :(
 
We don't like surprise visitors. My husband and I make a habit of spending our free time together and we're big homebodies now and want to know in advance if we're going to be entertaining...this goes for anyone -- friends, family, neighbors, etc. I would prefer someone to call way ahead of time to schedule a time to come over, not call when they're on their way. We've wasted many hours sitting around waiting for people to stop by "sometime this afternoon" and it turns out they don't pop in until 6pm.

Sometimes I don't mind surprise visitors, but usually I'm right in the middle of something (cooking a meal, yardwork, etc). Other times we are in our pajamas and I might not even have a bra on so I have to hide. We also have dogs and they freak out when they hear someone so we have to scramble to corral them before even answering the door...it's just a huge headache. I do think if we didn't have our noisy dogs I wouldn't mind quite as much.
 
If you have my phone number, please call me before dropping by. I could be rushing to get things done before I have to leave or I could be sick in which case I wouldn't answer the door anyway.

There was the one time my neighbor came over before 9am. She didn't have my phone number at the time. I had just woken up so I answered the door in robe with my hair still a mess, teeth not brushed ect.... She just kept apologizing and when I asked her what was up, she wanted to tell me about a missing child in the neighborhood next to us. So I was ok with her stopping by.
The child was found a few hours later at a friends house.
 
How do you feel about unannounced visitors?

I have a friend that is constantly popping in, and it's really starting to bug me.

Today, a lazy Sunday, with lots of chores to do around the house, hanging in jammies sans certain uncomfortable female garments, and unshowered, a friend and her teenage son pop in unannounced.

I saw the car pull up, asked dh to ask them to wait outside while I got changed, but friend said, "I've seen her in jammies before; it's too cold to wait outside.", and walked in while I was in the kitchen. I wasn't able to get into my first floor bedroom to change, so just hung out in another area of the house until they left. Of course, I was feeling rude for not being available, but dang it, they were rude to pop in and then insist on coming in after being asked to wait outside for a couple minutes so I could be somewhat presentable.

What say you?

I do not pop in on anyone and I do not want anyone to pop in on me. Not even relatives.
 
Hate hate hate. Did I say hate?? My il's did it once and dh put a.stop to it. Imo, there is no reason why you cannot call first. There is no emergency that warrants a pop in.
 
How do you feel about unannounced visitors?

I have a friend that is constantly popping in, and it's really starting to bug me.

Today, a lazy Sunday, with lots of chores to do around the house, hanging in jammies sans certain uncomfortable female garments, and unshowered, a friend and her teenage son pop in unannounced.

I saw the car pull up, asked dh to ask them to wait outside while I got changed, but friend said, "I've seen her in jammies before; it's too cold to wait outside.", and walked in while I was in the kitchen. I wasn't able to get into my first floor bedroom to change, so just hung out in another area of the house until they left. Of course, I was feeling rude for not being available, but dang it, they were rude to pop in and then insist on coming in after being asked to wait outside for a couple minutes so I could be somewhat presentable.

What say you?


I have a bigger issue with getting pop in guests to LEAVE!!!!
Don't stay all ****** afternoon, I have things to do!!!
 
No I don't care for pop-ins.

And I would never pop-in on anyone else.
 
When I was a child, we had a BIG surprise drop in. We lived in New York and my great aunt came by bus all the way from Texas without letting my mom or grandmother know she was coming. Then, she stayed two weeks! LOL!
 












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