Not answering the doorbell

[Kirsty]

When my door bell goes off I don't answer it as when I do, nine times out of ten, it's always some charity or sales people. In the past when I have accidentally answered it, I find it hard to engage in conversation and almost feel paralysed. I try to be polite when all I want to do is shut the door. I'm then feeling very intense afterwards and can't shake off my tension and start stimming. Anyone else like this?

 

[StephF]

I use the spyhole

 

[gonzerd]

I very rarely answer (read never). It's one of those things that where it's totally unexpected, I freeze up. I need to be in a good mood to open that door. Friends have a code, so it's rarely a problem.

 

[King_Oni]

I have servants to answer the door, lol... (alas, one of the upsides you have if you live at your parents house)... but I kid; I never hear the doorbell from my mancave, so friends usually phone me if they're at the door.

But granted, I don't spend 24/7 in my mancave I sometimes end up downstairs and answer the door; often to much confusion. 9 out of 10 times I have no idea what's going on, but luckily it's mostly the postal service for a package for someone in the house. Rarely do I have conversations with people at the door. And if they intend to I'll tell them I'm not interested. It's not polite you say? Nope.. but ringing my doorbell is not an obligation for me to be polite. I'm not pouring boiling water over the parapet, hah... so there's that.

So yeah, doorbells and ansering the door... it's not that I won't do it, but I'll answer it in whatever mood I'm feeling, and if I'm having a ****** day, I'm clearly not going to be the most polite and fun person. However, I'll just try to keep it short rather than make it a miserable experience for others... if people insist... like people trying to sell you something... that might change my mood from grumpy to full blown aggressive at some point and it's one of those moods I rather just try to minimize

 

[Harrison]

No one ever comes to my door, the parcel guys know to deliver to the utility room and the postie puts it in the box.

 

[invisible]

I don't like opening the door as would be the case with many aspies I suspect.

 

[Kirsty]

I very rarely answer (read never). It's one of those things that where it's totally unexpected, I freeze up. I need to be in a good mood to open that door. Friends have a code, so it's rarely a problem.

That's what happens with me. I freeze up too. I end up hiding in the hope they go away or someone else answers it. Lol. Yeah, people I know like friends and family are fine. I'd like to know if someone's coming and who. Unexpected ones is a big no no! When they keep ringing it and there's still no reply, I just have a wee laugh at myself, thinking, take the hint! No one's home...not.

 

[Cali Cat]

A knock on my door is a rare occurrence, and it's usually no one I know anyway. As soon as I hear the knock, I freeze. Then, I creep into the bedroom where I can peek out the blinds to see who it is. Unless it's the postman or someone I know, I don't answer it. It's so much easier than going through the tedious process of declining whatever goods or services they're peddling. That always makes me very nervous and throws my rhythm off. My friends and family all know that I have to be in the mood to receive company, so no one just "drops by" for a visit. If they do show up, it's just for a brief interaction of some sort and they're off. That's fine, but even that irritates me because it's unexpected.

 

[Judge]

Happens rarely and is always a total stranger at the door. Sometimes I just don't bother, other times I feel like I could use the practice. For whatever reason, I certainly handle strangers better than I used to.

But with the telephone I'm increasingly screening my calls nearly to 100%. Mostly because of an increase in obvious criminal scammers who are now spoofing their caller ids- not that they can fool me.

 

[Cali Cat]

... But with the telephone I'm increasingly screening my calls nearly to 100% ...

Oh, yeah. The phone. That's another thing I avoid answering. This may seem like no big deal, but in my business, it's not really good practice to ignore the phone. I usually give my business partner's number to business contacts, but sometimes they call me instead. I much prefer to transact business by email.

 

[Judge]

Oh, yeah. The phone. That's another thing I avoid answering. This may seem like no big deal, but in my business, it's not really good practice to ignore the phone. I usually give my business partner's number to business contacts, but sometimes they call me instead. I much prefer to transact business by email.

I went through a period from my late teens to my early twenties when I had a terrible time dealing with strangers on the phone. Got a job where I had to use the phone all the time and I managed to get over it. A time before the Internet and email.

 

[Kirsty]

A knock on my door is a rare occurrence, and it's usually no one I know anyway. As soon as I hear the knock, I freeze. Then, I creep into the bedroom where I can peek out the blinds to see who it is. Unless it's the postman or someone I know, I don't answer it. It's so much easier than going through the tedious process of declining whatever goods or services they're peddling. That always makes me very nervous and throws my rhythm off. My friends and family all know that I have to be in the mood to receive company, so no one just "drops by" for a visit. If they do show up, it's just for a brief interaction of some sort and they're off. That's fine, but even that irritates me because it's unexpected.

I peek out the curtains too, very discretely, so they don't see any movements. Even hearing a knock makes me freeze a little. If it's dark outside and the light's on, I'm screwed. That's when they know someone is in, but not necessarily in that room. I could be upstairs having a crap for all they know. lol

 

[Kirsty]

Yup! The phone is another thing I have always avoided. I always ignore blocked caller ID too or text messages from unknown numbers. If it's important they'll leave a voice mail. That's when I'll reply if necessary.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I am very confrontational and aggressive by nature, so when I get an unexpected knock from somebody other than family or a delivery guy, I put on my dad's glare and see what they want.

Phone calls I can't do much about. If it's an unknown number (that isn't a scammer), I answer with a deep and gruff "hello" to let them know the intrusion isn't welcome. If it is a scammer, I know it's just going to be a recording anyway, so I snap all sorts of obscenities at the machine, and sometimes press 1 and lay the phone down to tick off that same man and woman who's been calling me for over a year. Take a hint, you @#$%^&*()_(*&^%$#, if you haven't scammed me yet, ya ain't goin' to, no matter what dumb gimmick you come up with! I love it when they send me to a phishing website, I leave them a message in the password field. Heeheehee.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I live at home am always either at someone else's house babysitting their kids full time, at my part time job, or up in my room so i rarely ever need to answer the door. But when i do, i freeze up most of the time. I'm too short to look through the spy hole so i have to guess based on the knock whether or not its a person i want to risk answering the door for. The kid (i babysit's) friends all have a distinct knock so they're fine, its everyone else i panic in front of. Plus if its just me and my mom, she is never consistent with what she wants me to do - answer the doorbell (i'll get yelled at if its a stranger) or wait for her to answer it (i'll get yelled at for not opening it if its someone we know). I can't just look at who it is through the spy hole so i have to chose one or the other.

 

[Flinty]

It's important for me to find out who it is. It's always one of three situations:

1. The caretaker. That I'll answer.

2. The cable company that's the rival of the one I use. I tell them to go away.

3. Drunkards that have no idea where they are. I call the police.

 

[Zjezdzaj]

Today I received a note saying “Sometime during week 41-42 the caretaker will show up to install an outlet on your balcony. We can’t tell you what day he’ll show up at your apartment but it’ll be sometime week 41-42” (paraphrasing)
Guess if I’m twitching!?

 

[handbanana]

I hate opening the door even if its the pizza man.

Sudden conversation when I'm not ready, default answer is either "don't know" or "I have a casserole in the oven, sorry"

 

[strugglewithin]

I never answer the door. I have a keypad lock so my family can open the door when they come over. I don't order pizza but drive over to pick it up. I also don't talk on phones unless it's my wife or mother everyone else can text me. My ringer is off most of the time.
I don't like to have unexpected conversations.

 

[umbrellabeach]

I live with my parents and siblings so they usually answer the door for me. But once I have my own house I don't think I'll answer it often. I'll get a door with a spyhole or peek out the window to see who's there, and then I'll decide whether or not to answer it.