[MR] OT: A cautionary tale about opening the door

[Janie]

You know how you always hear about stuff happening to other people?  Well,
this is what happened to me yesterday, August 5.
 
Hubby and the girls went to visit his parents.  Chris (4 y.o. boy) and I
went out to Taco Bell, then returned home to eat.  About 7:15 someone comes
to my door and answers "pizza delivery" when I ask who it is.  I started to
open the door, but my Little Voice (who I learned to listen to years ago)
said quite sternly, "Do not open that door.  Look out the window."
 
I try to look out the window to catch sight of the guy.  Not only can I NOT
see pizza boxes, I cannot see him because he is standing so close to my
door.  There is no pizza sign on top of the silver car blocking my driveway.
The Bad Feeling (tm) strikes me.  Not waiting to see what will happen next,
I grab the portable phone, dial 911, and take my son upstairs with me.  I
inform the very sympathetic 911 operator, "I am loading my weapon..."  We
agree that I am not shooting through the door.  I lock the bedroom door and
wait.  I cannot see "Pizza Guy" from the upstairs window, either, because he
is STILL standing too close to the door.
 
When I look outside again, the silver car is now pulling away from my
neighbors' house.  (We will call them the L family.)  Perhaps he really was
a Pizza Guy and I panicked for nothing.  I agree to put my gun away and talk
to the officers when they arrive.  Chris, meanwhile, has had a wonderful
time rolling around on the king-size water bed and is oblivious to my
concerns.  We go downstairs to attempt to eat some more.
 
When I hear a knock and a call of "Portsmouth Police, ma'am,"  I look out
the window, then open the door.  The officer asks, "Where is your weapon,
ma'am?"  I show my hands and tell her it is upstairs.  I tell the three
officers that I could see the officer standing on my porch, but that Pizza
Guy had stood even closer to the door.  The L family was not home when the
officers went to talk to them.  The officers got a better description of the
car, then told me they would patrol our entire neighborhood for at least
several hours.  In total, four police cars responded to my call.
 
After the initial excitement had died down, I called the neighbor between
our houses.  Mr. B told me that Mrs. B had ignored a man at the door earlier
in the evening because they thought he might be a salesman.   When I finally
headed up to bed last night, I saw the full moon shining brightly through
the bathroom window.  Was it a good night for breaking into houses?  Was
Pizza Guy really just checking to see who had left for the weekend?  When I
called my friend, Robin, to tell her of my "excitement", she had heard on
the news an escaped convict from NC might be in our area.  We are less than
one hour from the NC line.
 
Please be smart and listen to your Little Voice.  I am very thankful I
learned to listen to those hints that God drops for me.  Do not open the
door for people that do not allow you to see them or do not identify which
pizza place they are from.  
 
Janie
tired of living in "interesting times"