UPDATE: I posted on Nextdoor for my local neighborhood. Girl was identified and someone reached out to her. She said her phone had died, she got turned around and just needed directions. But she made it home ok!! :)
True story, by the way. This happened to me earlier tonight.
Mid-size city, 500K people. Suburbia area. Well lit. Good part of town. Next to parks, schools, etc. Nice weather.
9:30 tonight (Sunday), I was in the house putting away some laundry. I heard the doorbell. I didn’t think anything of it, because I have been getting lots of amazon deliveries.
30 seconds or so later, a knock on the door. Wow, delivery guy is def letting me know I guess.
So I finish folding my laundry, go to front porch. Probably 5 to 10 minutes since knock on door. No package. Weird.
I check my porch camera and it shows a teen girl, maybe 15 or so, out of breath ringing the doorbell. She’s wearing pajama bottom pants, shoes, hoodie and a backpack. And she says to herself, “I need help. This is terrible.”
She sets on my front step for a few seconds, gets up, then knocks on door. Looks around. Then leaves.
After I see vid, run to sidewalk… look up and down. Nothing. I run back in, put shoes on, go out and again, looking. Nothing.
I call 911 tell the police what happened, they send someone out, but they don’t get here till about 30 minutes later. So basically police show up a full 45 minutes after the girl knocked on my door.
While waiting for police, I see neighbor, 2 houses down, pulling out of driveway. I run up to him, show him vid, tell him what happened, he says he’ll check his cams, but he didn’t get a knock or doorbell ring.
I’m kicking myself that I didn’t at least check the porch cam right when doorbell rang. I legit can not stop thinking about that girl knocking on a strangers (my) door hoping I would answer.
She was out of breath, but wasn’t banging on the door extra loud or anything. No crying. And I have neighbors all over and across the street. And just a block down is a 7-11.
So it probably wasn’t super serious (I hope!), and maybe she just lost her phone or something (I hope!). But I can’t sleep thinking about it.
I posted the vid to my local nextdoor community webpage, posted on facebook, etc. All in the hopes that someone will recognize her.
What would you guys do in this situation? Anything I could have done differently (other than answer the door)?
tl;dr: I ignored doorbell thinking it was just amazon package. Check porch cam later and realize it was teen girl saying she needed help and that something terrible happened. Police didn’t arrive till 45 minutes later and no sign of girl.
Speaking as an amazon delivery driver who hears “We don’t want any fuck off” from a robot voice at least 20 times a day when I ring a doorbell.
Who sees “fuck off” signs as often as I see american flags with blue lines flying over garages.
Who sees “We will fucking murder you if you come here and we don’t know you” signs just as often.
You’re fucking sick in the head. Stop being so fucking anti-social. The world outside is a part of the world too. The suburban brain is pathologically insulated and sociopathic. Your own little plot of land where no one can bother you or tell you what to do. Directly downstream of homesteading (Read: killing anyone who was there before and killing anyone who shows up after IT’S MINE MINE MINE).
Our society is fucking sick to the bone and you just had a moment of lucidity. Don’t let it pass.
Fucking amazing. Absolutely gobsmacked.
I’m grateful for this opportunity to call you human garbage. Lord knows you’d try to get me fired if I encountered you in the wild.
First, I’m not anti social. I was folding laundry. Decided I would just go out and grab the package after I was done. And for the record, in my area, amazon drops it off, rings doorbell and practically jogs/runs back to their truck, to make next delivery. I’ve never answered the door in time to talk to them, even when I answer right away.
I think you misunderstood the entire post.
Dude, I was in backroom of house, doing laundry. Doorbell rang, I figured it was delivery. So I finished laundry up, went to front porch. Saw no package, THEN I checked security cam and saw girl on camera. And immediately called police as I went into street looking for her.
This wasn’t a case of me avoiding the door or people. I talk to people out and about all day every day. I’m retired. Dude, step back.
EDIT: Girl was identified thru my Nextdoor posting of the vid. She was just lost, dead phone, but made it home fine.
Oh wow no fucking kidding you’re a goddamned boomer. Not like you could smell it instantly in this “Please tell me how I can feel less guilt doing exactly what I want when I want with no thought to the outside world or other people in it” post.
lol don’t tell me to ‘step back’ you entitled sack of shit. Your post is EXPLICITLY TITLED so as to ask how to even further insulate yourself from the outside world in the context of ‘oops I might have let someone in distress needing help die. Please tell me what I could have done OTHER THAN SEE WHAT WAS OUTSIDE MY BUBBLE’
And you’re continuing to respond as if the only thing the outside world does is provide you treats. It couldn’t possibly be an actual person. And even if it is they can fucking wait! I’m the fucking center of the universe! How DARE someone come to my CASTLE and deign to demand MY audience on a schedule outside my own convenience!
I’m not making you feel better about your anti-social (please look up the difference between this word and asocial. You’re far too old to be this poorly read) and narcissistic behavior? Well that’s what you came here looking for! That’s the POINT of the post!
I understand this post better than you do because I see you from outside. I’m explaining to you how you’re sick in the fucking head based on your own words, and even your response to my observations.
Oh I’m sure you have quite the social life at your leisure and on your terms. You are after all the center of the universe, aren’t you?
A woman was looking for help and in distress, but “I talk to people all the time!” Fucking incoherent response.
“Dude”
Actually early retirement. I’m not a boomer.
What?! What are you even talking about? It didn’t say anything about insulating myself from the world. I go out all the time. You seem ill.
What are you going on about?! Dude, do you realize that Amazon doesn’t wait for us to answer the door? They leave packages and then leave. What makes you think I was intentionally making anyone wait?! lol
Again, you need to read the fucking post, guy. When I went to get my package, no one was there. Then I check the cam and saw her. I didn’t ignore her. I didn’t know she was there.
You are so in the mood to be mad about something, that you didn’t even read the post.
Also, i’ve already added an update. She was fine. My gf’s friend took the vid and identified her on the Nextdoor app and she reached out to say she was fine and her phone was dead.
You literally ranted on and on about nothing. What’s it like being so angry all the time? lmao