Doorbell ditching

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Last night we had someone pound on our door like a maniac and then just disappear. I really hate feeling like I need to open carry in my own home. We looked outside and saw someone sitting in a minivan across the street and then they drove off. A few minutes later they came back and pulled up to another house up the street. I retrieved, 'the item' from my safe and it sat in it's storage box next to me the rest of the evening. I am pretty pissed about it and people need to talk to their kids about pulling pranks like this in our current, stressful environment. I do not appreciate some idiot scaring my kids like that. They may do this to the wrong sort of person in the future and get themselves seriously hurt. 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Emmanuel Goldstein

[LDSGator]

Was it just sophomoric kids or street thugs looking to break in?

[zil2]

25 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

street thugs looking to break in

Sounds more like this.  When it's kids, there's no minivan and they don't drive from house to house.  (I live on a corner, easy for the kids to ring the bell and race around the corner, so when the neighborhood boys were all tween-ish, I got a lot of it - so did my counterpart on the corner three doors behind me.  Of course, I'd long since started ignoring my doorbell - no one ever shows up unexpected, so the last laugh may have been mine...)

Might be good to check in with your neighbors, @Emmanuel Goldstein.

[LDSGator]

2 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Sounds more like this.  When it's kids, there's no minivan and they don't drive from house to house.  (I live on a corner, easy for the kids to ring the bell and race around the corner, so when the neighborhood boys were all tween-ish, I got a lot of it - so did my counterpart on the corner three doors behind me.  Of course, I'd long since started ignoring my doorbell - no one ever shows up unexpected, so the last laugh may have been mine...)

Might be good to check in with your neighbors, @Emmanuel Goldstein.

All excellent points. 
 

I still cringe when people go for the “shoot first ask questions later” type posts. I get it, protect your family, but of it’s just stupid kids, then blowing them away might not be the best choice. 

Edited April 13, 2023 by LDSGator

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

15 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

Was it just sophomoric kids or street thugs looking to break in?

The first would be the most likely. We have had this happen in the past and once I caught the kids. They were terrified I was going to call the cops and their parents. LOL

Maybe they have returned. 🤔

time for the hose attached to a motion sensor.  

[LDSGator]

5 minutes ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

was going to call the cops and their parents. LOL

Lol! When I messed up as a kid that was my big fear too. What? The death penalty? Sure, just don’t let my parents find out! 

Edited April 13, 2023 by LDSGator

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

5 minutes ago, zil2 said:

Sounds more like this.  When it's kids, there's no minivan and they don't drive from house to house.  (I live on a corner, easy for the kids to ring the bell and race around the corner, so when the neighborhood boys were all tween-ish, I got a lot of it - so did my counterpart on the corner three doors behind me.  Of course, I'd long since started ignoring my doorbell - no one ever shows up unexpected, so the last laugh may have been mine...)

Might be good to check in with your neighbors, @Emmanuel Goldstein.

Well, whichever it was, I will now have a 'little friend' on my hip in the evenings now. Hope someone does not make we do what I would do if they tried a home invasion. it would not end well for them. 

[Jamie123]

We used to call that game "knock door run". And yes, I'm afraid I have played it. A more humorous name is "nicky nocky ninedoors" but I've only ever seen that used in comics.

[Jamie123]

I believe the term "knock down ginger" is used sometimes too. It seems like harmless fun when you're a kid. It takes on a different hue when you're grown up and a householder.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Jamie123

[Jamie123]

On 4/13/2023 at 4:27 PM, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

Well, whichever it was, I will now have a 'little friend' on my hip in the evenings now. Hope someone does not make we do what I would do if they tried a home invasion. it would not end well for them. 

In this country it wouldn't end well for you either. They used to say an Englishman's house is his castle. Its a shame that's not true any more. (And that's coming from someone who thinks that for all its faults the British system is better than the American!)

[The Folk Prophet]

3 hours ago, Jamie123 said:

We used to call that game "knock door run". And yes, I'm afraid I have played it. A more humorous name is "nicky nocky ninedoors" but I've only ever seen that used in comics.

When I was a child everyone called it N-word knocking (the actual word though).... with total cluelessness.

Edited April 16, 2023 by The Folk Prophet

[Just_A_Guy]

56 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

In this country it wouldn't end well for you either. They used to say an Englishman's house is his castle. Its a shame that's not true any more. (And that's coming from someone who thinks that for all its faults the British system is better than the American!)

Yeah, I was a little taken aback by the wording there.  In the US, obviously one can use deadly force to defend against a bona fide home invasion; but if I take pot shots at a doorbell ditcher—even an aggressive one— on the grounds that “his knocks sounded threatening” or “he traumatized me”, etc; it probably isn’t going to end well for me.

Edited April 16, 2023 by Just_A_Guy

[NeuroTypical]

3 hours ago, Jamie123 said:

They used to say an Englishman's house is his castle. Its a shame that's not true any more. (And that's coming from someone who thinks that for all its faults the British system is better than the American!)

Here in the US, many states have what we call "castle doctrine".  Which basically means, if bad guys come, you don't have to leave your house to avoid them.  You run to your house.  You defend your house.  You may be able to use deadly force. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine

[LDSGator]

5 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Yeah, I was a little taken aback by the wording there.  In the US, obviously one can use deadly force to defend against a bona fide home invasion; but if I take pot shots at a doorbell ditcher—even an aggressive one— on the grounds that “his knocks sounded threatening” or “he traumatized me”, etc; it probably isn’t going to end well for me.

That’s the problem with society today @Just_A_Guy. I’m not allowed to shoot kids who play childish pranks. 😎

[Vort]

7 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Yeah, I was a little taken aback by the wording there.  In the US, obviously one can use deadly force to defend against a bona fide home invasion; but if I take pot shots at a doorbell ditcher—even an aggressive one— on the grounds that “his knocks sounded threatening” or “he traumatized me”, etc; it probably isn’t going to end well for me.

The very idea of taking a human life is and should be an awful thing. To speak casually of shooting someone who is basically just bothering you and to try to find legal justification for it is, in my estimation, little different morally from looking for an excuse to abort your unwanted pregnancy.

[mirkwood]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

The very idea of taking a human life is and should be an awful thing. 

I don't think anyone in this thread said it was not an awful thing.

 

 

Quote

To speak casually of shooting someone who is basically just bothering you and to try to find legal justification for it is, in my estimation, little different morally from looking for an excuse to abort your unwanted pregnancy.

That isn't what @Just_A_Guysaid.

[Vort]

31 minutes ago, mirkwood said:

That isn't what @Just_A_Guysaid.

Nor did I think he said so. It appears we aren't communicating clearly in this.

[LDSGator]

9 hours ago, Vort said:

The very idea of taking a human life is and should be an awful thing. To speak casually of shooting someone who is basically just bothering you and to try to find legal justification for it is, in my estimation, little different morally from looking for an excuse to abort your unwanted pregnancy.

It’s ironic that pro choice people are the first ones to be appalled at using a firearm to protect yourself, even if the situation absolutely calls for it. 
 

and to be fair, it’s ironic that some pro lifers seem to have no issue with brandishing a shotgun whenever someone has the audacity to play a childish game of ringing your doorbell and running away. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by LDSGator

[The Folk Prophet]

This sort of thing somewhat depends on the time of day. Midday vs. late at night can make a big difference in how scary it feels. We've never, fortunately, had anyone doorbell ditch our house. But I know if we did it would really upset me and my wife. It's not a funny prank. Don't disturb the peace of my home! But during the day it would be an annoyance. In the middle of the night....I'd be getting my "item" out from it's safe too. (The van parked across the street might freak me out a bit even in the day....)

A semi-related side story... when my wife and I were in college we'd often stay up WAY too late. One night we were up at like 3 or 4 a.m. binge watching the TV show Monk when there was a knock at the door. Without thinking much about it, I walked over and opened the door and....hand on my heart it was an honest to goodness zombie!! The creature came toward me and I swung the door shut, crying out in fear, but the zombie, (trying to eat my brains, apparently), pushed back against the door. We struggled, pushing on the door, until finally I got it shut and latched, yelling for my wife the entire time to "CALL 911!" She had grabbed a butcher knife and was cowering in fear in the living area.

Okay...so it wasn't a zombie. But it might as well have been. It was a severely drunk guy who'd been in a fight at a party, and was covered in blood. He'd gotten the buildings mixed up, had come to the wrong apartment, and couldn't figure out why his roommate wasn't letting him in. Haha, right?

But no. It was NOT haha. It was one of the scariest things I ever had happen in my life. No, I never thought it was an actual zombie. Just a super creepy middle-of-the-night home invasion. And, yeah, after the fact...a home invader wouldn't have knocked, wouldn't have stumbled slowly toward me with a moan, wouldn't have been covered in blood, etc. But it was freaking 4 in the morning! And it scared the stink out of us!

Anyhow, the cops showed up, worked it all out, and all was well, just to finish up the story.

Edited April 17, 2023 by The Folk Prophet

[LDSGator]

5 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

This sort of thing somewhat depends on the time of day. Midday vs. late at night can make a big difference in how scary it feels. We've never, fortunately, had anyone doorbell ditch our house. But I know if we did it would really upset me and my wife. It's not a funny prank. Don't disturb the peace of my home! But during the day it would be an annoyance. In the middle of the night....I'd be getting my "item" out from it's safe too. (The van parked across the street might freak me out a bit even in the day....)

A semi-related side story... when my wife and I were in college we'd often stay up WAY too late. One night we were up at like 3 or 4 a.m. binge watching the TV show Monk when there was a knock at the door. Without thinking much about it, I walked over and opened the door and....hand on my heart it was an honest to goodness zombie!! The creature came toward me and I swung the door shut, crying out in fear, but the zombie, (trying to eat my brains, apparently), pushed back against the door. We struggled, pushing on the door, until finally I got it shut and latched, yelling for my wife the entire time to "CALL 911!" She had grabbed a butcher knife and was cowering in fear in the living area.

Okay...so it wasn't a zombie. But it might as well have been. It was a severely drunk guy who'd been in a fight at a party, and was covered in blood. He'd gotten the buildings mixed up, had come to the wrong apartment, and couldn't figure out why his roommate wasn't letting him in. Haha, right?

But no. It was NOT haha. It was one of the scariest things I ever had happen in my life. No, I never thought it was an actual zombie. Just a super creepy middle-of-the-night home invasion. And, yeah, after the fact...a home invader wouldn't have knocked, wouldn't have stumbled slowly toward me with a moan, wouldn't have been covered in blood, etc. But it was freaking 4 in the morning! And it scared the stink out of us!

Anyhow, the cops showed up, worked it all out, and all was well, just to finish up the story.

Dude that was scary to read. Sorry you went through it. 

[The Folk Prophet]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

Dude that was scary to read. Sorry you went through it. 

In retrospect it's a laugh. In the moment...so freaked out!

Things could have been SO much worse though. In reality...nothing happened. We just got scared. Something could have actually happened. Damage. Pain. Death. All in all, it was no big deal.

I mean the drunk guy obviously had some pain (blood everywhere), but I kind of figured that if it was just a bit of blood from a fight, he probably deserved it. (Especially when the apartments where we lived were honor-code bound BYU-associated housing).

Edited April 17, 2023 by The Folk Prophet

[LDSGator]

18 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

In retrospect it's a laugh. In the moment...so freaked out!

Things could have been SO much worse though. In reality...nothing happened. We just got scared. Something could have actually happened. Damage. Pain. Death. All in all, it was no big deal.

I mean the drunk guy obviously had some pain (blood everywhere), but I kind of figured that if it was just a bit of blood from a fight, he probably deserved it. (Especially when the apartments where we lived were honor-code bound BYU-associated housing).

Still, glad it wasn’t anything horrible and that you can laugh about it. 

[Jamie123]

I'm reminded of a case in the uk a few years ago. Some home-invaders invaded a home, overpowering and tying up the householder. Then they decided to have some fun with him. They partially untied him, stripped him naked, put a rope around his neck and walked him around his own house like a dog. During this proceeding, the householder managed to get free. He grabbed a large blunt instrument, chased the invaders out of the house,  caught up with one of them and cracked him over the head. Luckily this "victim" didn't die, so there was no question of murder (or even manslaughter) but the householder did stand trial for causing "grevious bodily harm". I can't remember what the outcome was, but a lot of people said that given the humiliation he'd received, he'd done what any other reasonable person would have done, so to single him out as a "bad person deserving of punishment" was illogical and grossly unfair.

P.S. I've been trying to find the details of this, but the closest I can find is the case of Munir Hussain who in 2008 chased a burglar down and smashed his head in with a cricket bat - for which he was sentenced to 30 months. (Charges were dropped against the burglar, whose brain damage was so severe he was judged "unfit to plead") I can find nothing about the "dog walking" humiliation. I could have sworn I read that in the paper at the time but maybe I dreamed it.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Jamie123

[LDSGator]

17 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

I'm reminded of a case in the uk a few years ago. Some home-invaders invaded a home, overpowering and tying up the householder. Then they decided to have some fun with him. They partially untied him, stripped him naked, put a rope around his neck and walked him around his own house like a dog. During this proceeding, the householder managed to get free. He grabbed a large blunt instrument, chased the invaders out of the house,  caught up with one of them and cracked him over the head. Luckily this "victim" didn't die, so there was no question of murder (or even manslaughter) but the householder did stand trial for causing "grevious bodily harm". I can't remember what the outcome was, but a lot of people said that given the humiliation he'd received, he'd done what any other reasonable person would have done, so to single him out as a "bad person deserving of punishment" was illogical and grossly unfair.

God bless America. That would never fly here. 

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

God bless America. That would never fly here. 

That's just what I was thinking.