<p>Same here with some break-ins lately. I either answer quickly and let them know I’m not interested right away or shout out "no thanks " or “busy” from inside.</p>
<p>Yes, friendly neighborhood here and nine times out of ten it’s a neighbor. I don’t always open the door (if I don’t recognize the visitor) and heaven help the poor fool who tries to bring me salvation at my dinner time.</p>
<p>We don’t get nearly as many religious or salesmen as we did 15 yrs ago. People wanting to blacktop my drive were bad then. A very protective German shepherd helps too :). </p>
<p>I live on a rural state highway. Friends come in my garage and through the kitchen. If it’s not a client at the front door then it’s someone I don’t want to see.</p>
<p>On the rare occasion that I do answer the door when I’m not expecting someone, I do so with my phone in hand so it appears they’ve interrupted a conversation. That allows me to send unwanted people packing more quickly. We live in a neighborhood that is now zoned for the school in which I work as a school nurse. I can immediately recall two separate occasions in which I opened my door to a parent with a child in tow, asking about a health-related issue. This may sound nasty to some of you, but I resent that. Another time, a mother called me and asked me to come to their house to assess a child’s injuries. Really? My child is grown and has been out of the house for years. These particular people are not my friends, they are my neighbors. I find it incredibly rude that someone would interrupt me during my personal time to ask about a health issue when they can call their doctor’s office. I don’t have on-call hours. I can’t even go to our neighborhood pool now because I’ve been interrupted by kids and parents there, too. One day, when we move to a neighborhood that doesn’t service my school, maybe I’ll answer my door. Maybe.</p>
<p>ETA: After re-reading this, I realize how nasty I sound. I wish I could say I really didn’t feel this way, but I simply don’t appreciate the intrusions. :(</p>
<p>Usually I go see who it is. If I am upstairs I can look and see who it is without being seen. I might not go down if I don’t want to deal with whoever is there. We often have a note on our front door that says, “Come on in, the door’s open.”</p>
<p>Years ago my mother would sometimes get caught on the phone with a chatterbox and not be able to get off. She would whisper to me to go ring the doorbell. Then she would say to her telephone caller, “Oh gosh, Mary, I have to go; someone’s ringing my doorbell!”</p>
<p>A white lie but she felt better about getting off the phone that way.</p>
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<p>How incredibly rude and arrogant! Would love to know what you said to them, though.</p>
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I was so shocked and unprepared, especially the first time, that I just answered their questions. When I got the call asking me to come to their house, I gave some excuse why I couldn’t. I wish I’d had the nerve to tell them I thought it was rude of them to ask in the first place. We did get rid of our landline a couple of years ago, so that’s good. I don’t share my cell phone number with anyone other than friends and family. When we returned to school this year, a neighborhood mother told me she’d almost brought her child to my house during the summer when she bumped her head and thought she needed to be checked. I told her I don’t run a clinic out of my house and left it at that. In my nicer days, I’d have said, “Oh, you should have” even though I wouldn’t have meant it.</p>
<p>Doorman. Visitors get announced.</p>
<p>Splashmom - perhaps you could come up with a polite fob off - maybe something about liability and insurance not covering you to give medical advice out of school hours. And tell them to call their doctor.</p>
<p>VeryHappy - I’ve also had my kids ring the doorbell so I could end a phone call. Somehow I seem to attract long-winded acquaintances.</p>
<p>I don’t always answer phone calls and I don’t answer the door unless I know the person or am expecting a delivery. I consider both to be intrusions on my time.</p>
<p>Swimcatmom has a great idea. I get the same and don’t mind that much if it’s during the day and I’m working from home. The difference is I have my own firm and am not an employee. </p>
<p>I do mind when they show up during dinner, at 8 p.m., and on Sunday. Almost no one has an accounting/tax emergency. Everyone I’ve had in this situation could have waited until office hours, or called during them to schedule an appointment.</p>
<p>When I want to get off the phone, I just say that I have another very important call coming in and have to answer it. Please don’t tell folks…I do NOT have call waiting so I would have NO IDEA if a second person called…unless they called my cell phone! :)</p>
<p>The door…I answer if I know who it is. Lots of windows.</p>
<p>I stopped answering the door when I learned that our county animal control agency started going door to door looking for unlicensed dogs. They can issue a citation if they see a dog in the house. We haven’t been able to vaccinate for 3 years because our dog has an autoimmune disease, and the city refuses to provide a waiver to allow her to be licensed without an annual rabies vaccine. So we’re harboring a fugitive!</p>
<p>I love the idea of video surveillance for the front porch, and within the year I’ll be trying this gadget:
<a href=“https://www.dropcam.com/[/url]”>https://www.dropcam.com/</a></p>
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No, not really. If I know the person, I’ll answer the door. If I don’t or if they’re services, I don’t answer the door. They don’t need me to tell them that they can start mowing the lawn…or to fertilize the lawn…or to clean the gutters…etc. </p>
<p>If my mom is home, she will answer the door if she feels like it. If she doesn’t care for who’s on the otherside, she doesn’t. Which I think it perfectly fine. Answer your door of you want to. You shouldn’t be obliged to.</p>
<p>Many years ago a patient came to our house to complain about a product, and we’ve had patients and our accounts somehow find our house phone number and call at all hours. I don’t even like to answer the door for workers unless hubby is home. Plus owning a business you just never know what kind of nutjob could decide to come pay us a visit.</p>
<p>Wow, I feel like a loser. I answer the doorbell, even for obviously religious solicitations. (I just tell them politely that I’m not interested and wish them a nice day.) </p>
<p>I do look out the window first.</p>
<p>When my kids were little, there was one neighborhood mom who always claimed that she couldn’t buy girl scout cookies/wrapping paper/whatever because “she was cleaning and just moved the refrigerator in front of the door.” I choose not to buy the products her children are hawking now but at least I don’t lie to them about it.</p>
<p>My D makes her (modest) living, ringing doorbells, so yes I do.</p>
<p>She sells a better environment.</p>
<p>I don’t believe people should go to other people’s house unannounced. When I used to live in a house, I used to answer the door and close it if I wasn’t expect them. I know this would sound awfully harsh on CC, but it included kids coming over to want to play. I had a kid come over to play because his sister was taking a nap. I turned him away because my kids were busy.</p>
<p>I can see who is at my front door, but will purposely answer someone I don’t know just to let the person know someone is home and aware of their presence. For unexpected visitors I will just say “sorry, not interested” just the way I would do for a solicitation call. I don’t open the door.</p>