Friday OT #1 - Knock Three Times

[Angie]

Thanks so much to @Bipolarcy for this one! He has a great story that I'm hoping he'll share below, but here's the setup question:

Have you ever had a random person show up at your door in a very weird situation?

Or, to expand on it, have you received a weird phone call?

I remember receiving a call one time at 3 am asking me if I was a tow company. There was some beeping and stuff in the background. In my half-awake stupor, I said "wrong number" and hung up. At the time, my husband worked at a hospital, and I was still in that ridiculous state where you're not awake so you're not thinking rationally at all. So somehow I convinced myself that either he was cheating on me with a nurse or someone on staff, and that they'd broken HIPAA rules and looked up my number in my patient chart to call me and stalk him. I got good and stewed up about this wild leap in logic until I fell back asleep.

A few days later I was driving home from Des Moines with a friend, and telling her about this situation and how I hadn't been rational, but was it possible, etc. I was explaining what had happened - when the truck for the tow company the caller had asked me if I was drove up right beside us... and I saw that their number was one off from my cell.

 

[BCClone]

Thanks so much to @Bipolarcy for this one! He has a great story that I'm hoping he'll share below, but here's the setup question:

Have you ever had a random person show up at your door in a very weird situation?

Or, to expand on it, have you received a weird phone call?

I remember receiving a call one time at 3 am asking me if I was a tow company. There was some beeping and stuff in the background. In my half-awake stupor, I said "wrong number" and hung up. At the time, my husband worked at a hospital, and since I was still in that ridiculous state where you're not awake and so you're not thinking rationally at all. So somehow I convinced myself that either he was cheating on me with a nurse or someone on staff, and that they'd broken HIPAA rules and looked up my number in my patient chart to call me and stalk him. I got good and stewed up about this wild leap in logic until I fell back asleep.

A few days later I was driving home from Des Moines with a friend, and telling her about this situation and how I hadn't been rational, but was it possible, etc. I was explaining what had happened - when the truck for the tow company she'd asked me if I was drove up right beside us... and I saw that their number was one off from my cell.

I was out clubbing on a friday night with friends. One told me that he was going to be in my town the next morning and may stop by. I was feeling pretty good that night and was hung over the next morning. About 8 am the next morning there is a knock on the side door, the door only my friends and family use but no one else. I pull my rear out of bed and open the door thinking my buddy is there. Turns out to be this smokin' hot, well dressed, almost stripper level make up made up, early 20's woman at my door. I'm thinking what the hell did I do to get so lucky. She talking but I'm hung over and basically drooling while checking her out. Look down and notice a watchtower brochure she has, I take it and say thanks and shut the door ticked off. All I could ask myself is when did Jehovah witnesses get so hot.


Another night I'm at home and the phone rings. Asks if I will take a collect call from and then it cuts to the person saying their name but it is basically garbled. So I think it may be a buddy or something so I take it. We talk for a couple minutes I can't tell who the hell this is. He starts talking about random people and then I ask exactly who this is. Turns out it's this numbnut who is in jail. I spent 5-10 bucks for a couple minutes on this loser that keeps getting arrested and dials the wrong number.

 

[MeanDean]

Guessing offers to refinance college loans or extending my car's warranty don't count.

 

[Angie]

I was out clubbing on a friday night with friends. One told me that he was going to be in my town the next morning and may stop by. I was feeling pretty good that night and was hung over the next morning. About 8 am the next morning there is a knock on the side door, the door only my friends and family use but no one else. I pull my rear out of bed and open the door thinking my buddy is there. Turns out to be this smokin' hot, well dressed, almost stripper level make up made up, early 20's woman at my door. I'm thinking what the hell did I do to get so lucky. She talking but I'm hung over and basically drooling while checking her out. Look down and notice a watchtower brochure she has, I take it and say thanks and shut the door ticked off. All I could ask myself is when did Jehovah witnesses get so hot.


Another night I'm at home and the phone rings. Asks if I will take a collect call from and then it cuts to the person saying their name but it is basically garbled. So I think it may be a buddy or something so I take it. We talk for a couple minutes I can't tell who the hell this is. He starts talking about random people and then I ask exactly who this is. Turns out it's this numbnut who is in jail. I spent 5-10 bucks for a couple minutes on this loser that keeps getting arrested and dials the wrong number.

I didn't think JW were supposed to wear much makeup!

 

[BCClone]

I didn't think JW were supposed to wear much makeup!

Not idea, but this one was at slutty level made up. One reason I was excited when I answered the door. Maybe they thought it would attract more people?

 

[RLD4ISU]

Thanks so much to @Bipolarcy for this one! He has a great story that I'm hoping he'll share below, but here's the setup question:

Have you ever had a random person show up at your door in a very weird situation?

Or, to expand on it, have you received a weird phone call?

Years ago - before caller ID, etc - we received phone calls in the middle of the night. The phone was on my side of the bed, so I was the one that answered. The caller would make innuendo remarks to me about what he was thinking - nothing too graphic, but enough to rattle me. It happened a few more times & we contacted the police. The phone company started tracing our calls, but we didn't receive any more. He was eventually caught since he had also made phone calls to a couple other women. He was drunk when he made the calls (no excuse, though). I think he got in a little bit of legal trouble for what he did, though I can't remember. It turned out to be someone that knew one my BILs. Totally stupid error on his part and it wouldn't surprise me if I found out today that my husband & his brothers ensured he would never, ever call me again.

 

[oldman]

When my siblings and I were all home a few weeks back for my dad's funeral, one of the pallbearers got really sick and couldn't do the ceremony. My brother called the funeral home to let them know, and see if we could get the replacement's name on the pamphlet. At least he thought it was the funeral home.

Turns out, he dialed the first 3 numbers of the office phone and the last 4 of the cell number.

He starts out, "We just wanted to let you know that we had a pallbearer get sick, but we've found a replacement, so don't worry about that..."

Apparently the voice on the other end says, "Well who is this, and who died??"

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Closest thing I have is related to my biological mother. Got a phone call she died and we got a death certificate. Then got an obituary from a random newspaper two years later. Then two years later got an obituary from another newspaper. Then 5ish years later to fill out the FAFSA I had to input her social security number. Well apparently it doesn’t exist. Then during COVID I got another letter from the Army about some sort of benefits because of her death which they claim was 2020? This is ignoring the fact that my brother and sister have received other pictures and obituaries from other newspapers over the years.

I’ve given up on it a long time ago. And I never really talked to her anyway before the first death, which is the one I claim as true.

 

[stormchaser2014]

The house next door used to be a drug house I think. Random cars would pull in my driveway late at night, turn their lights off, and wait for like 10 minutes, until they realized they had the wrong place, backed out and drove in next door, walked in, and left a few minutes later. Never the same car either.

I came out one night to put garbage out and found a guy just wandering around the property looking for next door. Even the police, who have been there multiple times, have mistaken my place for next door.

Not sure how the drug scene works, but I'm thinking that house is on a list somewhere with a number to call. The house was sold to a new landlord and he kicked a bunch of people out and really cleaned up the place. Haven't seen any random cars in a while.

 

[NWICY]

This was a long time ago (think land line only time) I was sure I called a friend from college and this gal picked up the phone so I thought cool he's got himself a new GF, then made a little small talk before I asked to talk to him, turns out I goofed up the area code Oops. She was kind and wasn't mad.

 

[Joe4Cy]

This happened when I was in high school, so jump into the WayBack Machine with me:

I'm up late reading a Stephen King book. Suddenly, the front door is being pounded on. I hear my parents jump out of bed and answer the door.

Turns out it was a group of guys with car problems. Their car stalled out right across the street. They had popped the hood and the battery had cracked or something and some of the acid splashed onto one of their's face. My mom happened to be up as well and they saw the light on.

My dad, being a stand-up guy, pulled them in, washed the guys face. By that time, they used the corded kitchen phone (you read that right - a phone WITH a cord!) to call for help.

It was surreal.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Thanks so much to @Bipolarcy for this one! He has a great story that I'm hoping he'll share below, but here's the setup question:

Have you ever had a random person show up at your door in a very weird situation?

Or, to expand on it, have you received a weird phone call?

I remember receiving a call one time at 3 am asking me if I was a tow company. There was some beeping and stuff in the background. In my half-awake stupor, I said "wrong number" and hung up. At the time, my husband worked at a hospital, and since I was still in that ridiculous state where you're not awake and so you're not thinking rationally at all. So somehow I convinced myself that either he was cheating on me with a nurse or someone on staff, and that they'd broken HIPAA rules and looked up my number in my patient chart to call me and stalk him. I got good and stewed up about this wild leap in logic until I fell back asleep.

A few days later I was driving home from Des Moines with a friend, and telling her about this situation and how I hadn't been rational, but was it possible, etc. I was explaining what had happened - when the truck for the tow company she'd asked me if I was drove up right beside us... and I saw that their number was one off from my cell.

Our delivery guy was a character, and a bit of a pothead to say the least. Loved the guy and a good friend. About six months after he left our company, he showed up at my door at 2:30 am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Totally hammered and certainly high. Just riding his bike back from the bar and stopped by to see how I was doing lol

 

[CYdTracked]

The first year we were living in our current home the Friday evening after Thanksgiving while the Iowa vs Nebraska FB was on our doorbell started to frantically ring. Went to the front door and is is the wife of the neighbor who lives behind us that we had barely any interactions with in nearly a year living there (and still don't even 8 years later.) She is shook up and says her husband and son (probably in his mid 20's I would guess) are drunk and beating the crap out of each other and she needs help as she is scared they are going to kill each other. I ask if she has called 911 and she says yes but is worried they won't be there in time. We had a a 7 month old at the time and this interaction scares my wife that she closes the door on her and while she is running away I see the Sherriff with lights on coming around the corner. Eventually we see them take the son out in handcuffs. There was no way I was going to go over and get between 2 drunks fighting either.

Was quite a bit of drama for the evening to say the least and not the way you really want to get to know your neighbors. Their son has some issues as he would be drunk in the middle of the night and in the backyard screaming on the phone at his ex-wife about something and believe he may have a little PTSD as well. They eventually put up a privacy fence which all the neighbors are kind of glad because they are strange people and not exactly considerate neighbors at times either when it comes to noise or finding stuff in our yards like beer cans that had been tossed over or shooting off massive amounts of fireworks and not cleaning up all the debris that drifts into our yards as a result.

 

[MJ29]

My extension at work is one digit off from the one for maintenance. I get a lot of calls asking me to come unlock a door or help with a screen.

 

[Entropy]

The house next door used to be a drug house I think. Random cars would pull in my driveway late at night, turn their lights off, and wait for like 10 minutes, until they realized they had the wrong place, backed out and drove in next door, walked in, and left a few minutes later. Never the same car either.

I came out one night to put garbage out and found a guy just wandering around the property looking for next door. Even the police, who have been there multiple times, have mistaken my place for next door.

Not sure how the drug scene works, but I'm thinking that house is on a list somewhere with a number to call. The house was sold to a new landlord and he kicked a bunch of people out and really cleaned up the place. Haven't seen any random cars in a while.

Had a similar situation, only it was an over/under housing complex.
The folks looking for drugs always seemed to stop by when my wife was home alone.
At one point she told me a story about how the people who stopped by, once they realized that she didn't have what they were looking for, would try to get her to come party with them.

It took over a year to convince the landlord (who was a family friend) to kick them out.

 

[CYdTracked]

The house next door used to be a drug house I think. Random cars would pull in my driveway late at night, turn their lights off, and wait for like 10 minutes, until they realized they had the wrong place, backed out and drove in next door, walked in, and left a few minutes later. Never the same car either.

I came out one night to put garbage out and found a guy just wandering around the property looking for next door. Even the police, who have been there multiple times, have mistaken my place for next door.

Not sure how the drug scene works, but I'm thinking that house is on a list somewhere with a number to call. The house was sold to a new landlord and he kicked a bunch of people out and really cleaned up the place. Haven't seen any random cars in a while.

We had a rental duplex house like this just down the street the last place I lived. The guy that lived next to the properly wound up putting up a privacy fence because he could hear the side door slamming shut at random hours of the night. Several of us submitted anonymous tips to DMPD about suspected drug dealing going on there and eventually they did bust the place one day.

What sucked was the landlord was a bum and just cared about keeping it rented and didn't care about the tenants as long as they paid rent. Nearly every time one moved out there would be a dumpster in the drive for a week while the landlord would just haul out trash and random stuff that was damaged. Heard from one neighbor that after one of the tenants moved out the landlord apparently found the kitchen sink plugged up with cat litter and the washer and dryer looked like someone had taken a hammer to them. Was so glad we moved out of that area when we did because as houses there sold more were bought for rentals and with that brought in some shady characters. When I had bought it originally the houses in that neighborhood were being bought by young single people or families as starter homes but as those people got married or grew their families and moved away the next "turnover" the neighborhood was seeing was not as good of one as when I had moved into it.

 

[carvers4math]

Not sure this is what thread is really getting at but it was weird and annoying so putting it here.

We got notified by mail that we were part of an extra census on crime data. It was at the time most things like schools were closed down for Covid.

So no one is home but me and the dog and I am brushing my teeth. I hear pounding on the door but before I can get there some woman is just trying to walk into our house and my old dog is rushing the door and growling at her so she backs out. Secure the dog and sure enough she is census person collecting crime data. Dog has pushed her to the porch and she wants back in. No mask. I am like nope, not coming in my house like that. Then she says we can talk in her car. Right, the world is locked down and I am going to go sit in a car with maskless stranger for 20 minutes. She finally leaves and says someone will call. Fine, maybe better starting place with things locked down.

So a different person calls and is very polite. The only crime I have to report is the census woman unlawfully trying to enter my house. She kind of laughs but agreed they should never do that.

Same nice lady calls about six months later, Rambo census woman still all I’ve got.

Last fall, the woman who tried to break and enter my house shows up again. By now, old dog has died but have a new pup. I am in the kitchen rolling pie crust so wash my hands when I hear the doorbell. She tries to just walk in my house again. New dog rushes her like a bat out of hell and she just runs to her car. Was able to yell at her before she got to the street that I was getting her plate number and calling the cops. The most I did was mention it to cop that lives on our block.

About a week later, nice lady calls again, I report unlawful entry by census woman again. We recently got another follow up letter. Dog is prepared.

 

[SCNCY]

Not sure this is what thread is really getting at but it was weird and annoying so putting it here.

We got notified by mail that we were part of an extra census on crime data. It was at the time most things like schools were closed down for Covid.

So no one is home but me and the dog and I am brushing my teeth. I hear pounding on the door but before I can get there some woman is just trying to walk into our house and my old dog is rushing the door and growling at her so she backs out. Secure the dog and sure enough she is census person collecting crime data. Dog has pushed her to the porch and she wants back in. No mask. I am like nope, not coming in my house like that. Then she says we can talk in her car. Right, the world is locked down and I am going to go sit in a car with maskless stranger for 20 minutes. She finally leaves and says someone will call. Fine, maybe better starting place with things locked down.

So a different person calls and is very polite. The only crime I have to report is the census woman unlawfully trying to enter my house. She kind of laughs but agreed they should never do that.

Same nice lady calls about six months later, Rambo census woman still all I’ve got.

Last fall, the woman who tried to break and enter my house shows up again. By now, old dog has died but have a new pup. I am in the kitchen rolling pie crust so wash my hands when I hear the doorbell. She tries to just walk in my house again. New dog rushes her like a bat out of hell and she just runs to her car. Was able to yell at her before she got to the street that I was getting her plate number and calling the cops. The most I did was mention it to cop that lives on our block.

About a week later, nice lady calls again, I report unlawful entry by census woman again. We recently got another follow up letter. Dog is prepared.

WTF!?!?

I would have called the cops after the first time. Additionally, I hope you have since installed cameras near your front door, both inside and out.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Not sure this is what thread is really getting at but it was weird and annoying so putting it here.

We got notified by mail that we were part of an extra census on crime data. It was at the time most things like schools were closed down for Covid.

So no one is home but me and the dog and I am brushing my teeth. I hear pounding on the door but before I can get there some woman is just trying to walk into our house and my old dog is rushing the door and growling at her so she backs out. Secure the dog and sure enough she is census person collecting crime data. Dog has pushed her to the porch and she wants back in. No mask. I am like nope, not coming in my house like that. Then she says we can talk in her car. Right, the world is locked down and I am going to go sit in a car with maskless stranger for 20 minutes. She finally leaves and says someone will call. Fine, maybe better starting place with things locked down.

So a different person calls and is very polite. The only crime I have to report is the census woman unlawfully trying to enter my house. She kind of laughs but agreed they should never do that.

Same nice lady calls about six months later, Rambo census woman still all I’ve got.

Last fall, the woman who tried to break and enter my house shows up again. By now, old dog has died but have a new pup. I am in the kitchen rolling pie crust so wash my hands when I hear the doorbell. She tries to just walk in my house again. New dog rushes her like a bat out of hell and she just runs to her car. Was able to yell at her before she got to the street that I was getting her plate number and calling the cops. The most I did was mention it to cop that lives on our block.

About a week later, nice lady calls again, I report unlawful entry by census woman again. We recently got another follow up letter. Dog is prepared.

If she keeps that up, she'll be lucky if she doesn't get shot by someone.

 

[carvers4math]

If she keeps that up, she'll be lucky if she doesn't get shot by someone.

This dog throws off a definite crazy vibe, but he’s a pup still. Hope it’s enough to just get called. Why on earth do they have to ask us the same questions repeatedly and think it is somehow better in person after entering our home without permission?