<p>Got you didn’t I?</p>
<p>Here’s the scenario. A couple is romantically involved and living together, married, engaged, whatever. It has to be a romantic partnership, not roommates. </p>
<p>If one partner is alone in the shared bedroom with the door closed, should the other partner knock before entering?</p>
<p>no- I wouldn’t think to.</p>
<p>I would say no.</p>
<p>Knocking is not necessary.</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>But if you’re doing something that you’d rather the other not know about, live in an old house with creaky floorboards.</p>
<p>No, unless they’ve just had a major fight and the person in the bedroom has gone in there to separate herself. Then an apologetic knock might be a good idea. :)</p>
<p>Uhm, no. Unless the bathroom is adjacent to the bedroom and has no doors, so the only way to have privacy while sitting on the “throne” is to have the bedroom door closed. :)</p>
<p>Yes, especially if it is me in there. If it is my husband, maybe.</p>
<p>Reason for asking: we have a big, cozy chair next to the bedroom door (old house, heavy wooden door) and last night I was standing there when the bull entered the china shop (err, I mean my husband came into the bedroom) and smashed me right in the face with the edge of the door. I, of course, being the lady that I am gently, politely and with a very soft voice, asked him to knock in future if the door is closed. He was beyond offended by the suggestion. So I decided to see how other couples feel about that.</p>
<p>I’m trying to imagine the scenario where the door is closed and we aren’t both in there. If other people are in the house, it is possible the door may be closed while dressing. In that case, I would probably knock or say something on my way into the room. </p>
<p>I am trying to think if I ever open a closed door, no matter who is on the other side, without knocking. Doubtful</p>
<p>What about the home office?</p>
<p>No knocking…</p>
<p>We rarely close doors in my house. So it’s not usually an issue. But if the door is closed, that should suggest that perhaps something is going on behind closed doors for a reason, so I might knock, and I would probably want my husband to knock. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t.</p>
<p>We also have a mirror on the back of our bedroom door, so one never knows if some vain half of the couple might be preening.</p>
<p>Also, the dog. If the door is closed he can’t get in and harass some of us.</p>
<p>How about gently opening the closed door? We don’t knock on our bedroom door for one another, but we always open it carefully in case the dog is waiting close by on the other side. That would at least give you time to say, “Hey there!”</p>
<p>Ouch, zoosermom! Yikes. Your H needs to learn how to open doors slowly and gently. Mine did after a couple of similar mishaps. </p>
<p>We keep the bedroom door closed all the time to keep the cats out so they would not spread their allergens on the bed (also to prevent them from chewing on the palm plant and puking all over).</p>
<p>zoosermom: With a mirror on the back of the door, knocking seems really necessary. Of course someone could be standing there. 
</p>
<p>But your thread is kind of fun. I have my own bathroom and my husband wouldn’t dream of opening that door without knocking and getting permission. He has a home office but I can’t think he has ever shut the door.</p>
<p>edit: knocking seems to me one of the easier things one can do to accommodate a spouse.</p>
<p>We have our mirror on our closet door, but I would agree that if it is on the back of the bedroom door that knocking would be a good idea- or at least opening it really slow.</p>
<p>Our bedroom door is pretty much always closed, either to keep the dogs in or to keep the dogs out. Knocking makes the dogs bark and is considered undesirable. The goal is always to open the door as slowly and quietly as possible.</p>
<p>We have this problem in the office. Heavy fire doors that require a fair amount of force to go through. You basically learn about the potential for the door to open when you’re on the wrong side. The previous company where I worked had a small pane of thick glass in the door so that you could see if there was someone on the other side and that helped.</p>
<p>On mirrors - my wife’s dresser has a mirror and I would also hang additional mirrors on the closet doors if I was asked to. I think that hanging a mirror on the entrance door is a risk and I frequently try to minimize risks.</p>
<p>No knocking on doors in our house between spouses. We too keep some doors closed due to animals. </p>
<p>I think coming up with a rule on the fly to fix a rare accident (has this ever in your married life happened before?) probably isn’t worth it, especially if one of you isn’t into the rule. Pick a new solution, his turn next. Like opening the door slowly, or moving the chair away from the door so it can’t happen again, or…</p>
<p>I’d not be offended if I was your spouse, but i might think its silly or annoying to create some new inconvenience to prevent a rare occurrence. Or I might feel its a bit like I’m being blamed for an obvious ‘accident’ that neither of us could have foreseen…Like I should have just known to knock on the door even though we’ve never done that before and we’ve never had this injury happen in our married lives.</p>
<p>Ouch!</p>
<p>(move the chair)</p>