Opinions wanted: Doorbell rang at 4:30am, house was not on fire, what would you do?

@DaveA All of the responses have been unique. Not everyone lives where they can leave doors unlocked. Please don't try to make me feel bad for asking opinions of what they would have done in my shoes.

In the pitch black of 430am alone in the home, I did what I thought to do to protect myself. Which was no response to the bell ringer.

I wondered at that moment if because there was no reply from me that this would have given the bellringer whoever it was, incentive to break in or try to break in. I had my phone ready, but I know how long the police would take to get here, if at all, and then it would have been after the tragedy.

So, that's great that the two of you banded together to help out strangers, as have I, but not those who remain silent and show up in darkness. If they were legitimate, they could have called out a name, and perhaps a response from me would have cleared it up.

Thanks for your input.
 
Owlivia said:
In the pitch black of 430am alone in the home, I did what I thought to do to protect myself. Which was no response to the bell ringer.
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You did exactly what you should have, Owlivia. I doubt that there's a law enforcement officer anywhere who would have advised a woman alone in your position to open the door at that pitch-dark time of night/morning. No way. NOT advisable. There were some good suggestions here about how to handle it should it ever happen again.
 
Owlivia said:
What would you have done?
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When I was living alone in a house, I would have peeped around a curtain to try to see what was up, and maybe have called the police.
In these days of cell phones I can't imagine why anyone would be ringing a stranger's doorbell at wee hours of the morning. I kind of imagine the only people up that time of day are drug-users, but I'm not a morning person so maybe there are legitimate reasons to be up at 4:30 in the morning.
I'm sure there are a variety of valid reasons but I just wouldn't want to deal with it at that time of day unless they saw a fire in my house.
 
Owlivia, do you have nearby neighbours. You could ask if they had anyone ring their doorbell last night. The ringers might have been at the wrong address and looking to pick someone up.
 
When I was young, we lived in a town of only 2K people in upstate New York. Most people in the town did not lock their doors, but I always did because I had grown up in a much bigger town. People thought I was silly, including my husband.

Then one day in the middle of the night in a neighboring, very small town two men knocked on an old couples home and they opened the door. They probably thought the same thing that maybe their car had broken down. The two men murdered the couple and then stole whatever they could find laying around worth anything. This was 50 years ago. It doesnā€™t matter where you live. Thereā€™s always been bad people and there always will be.
 
C50 said:
While cameras and signs and security alarms can give you some peace of mind they will not save your life once an intruder is in your home, or frankly even in your yard. The police are great but won't be there in seconds, that's why I think you need something at hand to defend yourself, even when in the back yard tending the flowers.

I'm not trying to scare you, rather trying to impress upon you the importance of self defense. Whatever home defense tool you decide on will probably never be used, but can save your life if needed.
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I have a hiding place prepared so that anyone who breaks in will think the house is empty.
 
I flip on a very bright light on porch if they run away, they were using the knock to see if anyone was home...
 
Owlivia said:
Thank you all for your good advice.

I didn't even consider calling the police, not sure why.

I do not have any type of camera outside. I imagine if I did it would be easy for the criminal to rip the camera off or cover it. I have thought of getting them, though.

I didn't want to open the curtains, as was said, the person would have seen me. I didn't want to call out to ask who it was, again, they would know I was a woman, alone.

I didn't put the inside lights on even when I got up at 5 to walk around the rooms. Just in case.

I don't have any guns and the only weapon I could come up with is a can of some type of spray to try and blind them temporarily. Probably not very useful though.

There was a gutter cover salesman who wouldn't take no for an answer, even though I had a sign on the door to not disturb. That was shortly after my husband died. He was relentless and finally I told him to leave.

That night I was fearful he was coming back and I went to bed with a can of air freshener. Laugh. I was very fragile at that time.

Around that same time I had been helped by a retired plumbing contractor working in Home Depot. Some how we got around to talking about our recently deceased spouses who both died at the same hospital.

I told the man I had a glass windchime on my kitchen door in case someone came in I would hear the chime. In his bluntness he said most burglars work in pairs and I would be helpless.

It's been a hard eleven months since my husband died. It's things like 430am doorbell ringing that gives me a reality check.

I can't reply individually, I am getting a bit teary. Think I will try and stay awake as long as I can.

Can't live in fear and can't control what other people will do.

Thank you all again, it's helped me.
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If you can afford it, maybe get one of those medical alert bracelets or necklaces. They're not just for medical emergencies. They are for any type of emergency. The one I have (if I push the button) can hear me whether I'm able to speak or not. If I can't speak, they will notify the authorities. It might give you some peace of mind. Mine runs around $34/month. Also, mine is good anywhere. It has gps on it and the battery never needs charging. I think they said it's good for about 10 years.
 
Owlivia said:
Thank you all, more helpful new posts, so appreciated.

I will definitely look into some kind of personal spray. A can of Febreeze is too big to carry.

Maybe the dog warning sign is something to consider, I see that sign on people's lawns down the street.

Will do some reading on the cameras, I try to do as little gadget electronics as possible, but maybe there is a simple one.
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I watched a video recently and some self-defense man was talking. He suggested using wasp spray in an emergency and I always have some of that on hand because we have wasps so bad where I live.
 

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