Self portrait where I'm only visible from the eyes-up and hanging upside down from the top of the frame.

From the Desk of Brian Richards

A collection of thoughts and Ideas from Brian Richards, creator of WPSessions.com

Weirdest Incident Yet…

Here at the Richards Manor, we don’t get a lot of foot traffic. We’re a young married couple with no kids, surrounded by retirees, 10+ miles from our nearest friends.

Despite this, however, our doorbell rings at a surprisingly regular rate. Not daily, mind, but almost certainly weekly.

It’s a game I like to call “Doorknob Roulette”

Lately, I’ve taken to making a game of things. See, I never know who is going to be at the door (except that I can guarantee it’s never a package delivery man, because they seem to be of the mind to toss our package in the garage and go… I almost never know when something has been actually delivered).

Usually I’m greeted by a solicitor of some kind (cut your heating bill!, paint your home!, get new cabinets!, need a new roof?). Once in a while it’s a neighbor who needs technical assistance (usually with their printer, or scanner, or email). On the rarest occasions, it’s a neighborhood kid asking to shovel our sidewalk or mow our lawn.

If it’s clearly a solicitor I’ll sometimes let them ring the doorbell and then leave without answering, never admitting that I’m home (after all, it’s 2 in the afternoon… who is home at that time of day?)

Today’s incident, however, is the weirdest I’ve encountered on my doorstep…

The person on the outside was a teenager, probably 14 or 15 years old. Standing a ways behind him on the sidewalk was (I suspect) his mother. He rang the doorbell at least twice before I could get upstairs to answer, and I think a third time as I was getting to the door.

When I opened the door he asked, “Does a kid named Angelo live here?”

When I said, “No, it-” he cut me off and said, “Cuz a kid named Angelo threw a rock at my little brother… cut his head open. And he said his house was over here in this area…”

I interjected again, completing my thought, “No, it’s just my wife and I… sorry.”

Then he and his mother both said, “Okay, thanks for your time!” and trotted off.

Uh, what?

I wasn’t really sure what to do with this tiny glimpse into someone else’s life I was given so, naturally, I thought the only logical conclusion was to share it with everyone en masse.

I wonder what will happen to poor ole Angelo in the event that these two ever catch up with him. Vigilante street justice? Perhaps… If they wanted to have words with young Angelo, I wonder why his mother was in the background and not the person knocking at the door. Really, I wonder why she was even coming along at all if the boy was the one doing all the knocking… That’s the most bizarre part.

Have you ever had anything this strange at your door?


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3 responses to “Weirdest Incident Yet…”

  1. Topher Avatar

    We used to live on a road that the mail man wouldn’t come down because it was too small. We had to go a half mile to get our mail. Past our house it got even dodgier, a real two-track. In the winter there was LOTS of snow, and in the spring lots of mud. During those seasons we’d have someone walk to the house about once a month from down there, asking to use our phone.

    One time it was a handicapped baton twirler and her friend. Her friend went to town with my dad to get help and she stayed with us and taught us all how to twirl.

    Memories.

    More here: http://derosia.com/phlog/search/index.php?type=category&search=My%20Story

    1. Steven Gliebe Avatar

      Cool. Most people will never get an opportunity like that.

  2. Steven Gliebe Avatar

    If you ever run into Angelo you’d better tell him to get out of Dodge!

    The strangest thing that ever happened to me at the front door was having a very nice man dressed in black ask me if I would take a three question survey. Strangely, each question had something to do with death. Then he asked if I wanted to buy a cemetery plot. I was 25 at the time.

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