So, it is just after 12:45am here, and I'm enjoying peace and quiet. I checked on the kids at midnight and both were still awake (they are coming off of 5 days off of school). They both complained of being hot and unable to sleep. So, I re-opened our front door that we have had open all day, hoping the breeze would help them sleep. We have a screen door (half glass, half screen)

So, I'm sitting here in the basement surfing the web and I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I turn, getting ready to chew out my 12 year old for being out of bed. Then I realized it was a complete stranger! He was probably in his early 20s

My first words were, "What are you doing" I don't know why I didn't scream or grab something. He seemed just as confused as me, although he didn't seem obviously drunk or anything. He just said "oh my God, I thought this was my buddy's house. I have the totally wrong house". Then he turned around an dI followed him up the stairs and let him out (had to make sure my dog wouldn't get out)

Needless to say, the door is locked now. Scary!

Whoa!!!! How absolutely blessed you are that it was a mistake. I once came out of my bathroom to female stranger in my living room. (she wanted help loading stuff in her car from neighbor's garage sale)Freaked me out - to this day, I still make sure all the doors are locked even when we are home.

I'm doubting that you will get much sleep after that!

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Oh that IS scary!! I had the same thing happen to me about 8 years ago (wow didn't think it had been 8 years) I was home alone it was I dunno.. 4 or 5PM. My SO at the time was at work...he worked 2nd shift. I had been vaccumning the couches with a little dust buster and I went outside to empty the contents. I came back inside and had to use the bathroom, so I left the wooden door open and the screen closed. When I came out of the bathroon there stood and very tall man!
I acted cool, like it didn't scare me in the least (inside I was terrified!) He mummbled something about his buddy living here.. I said Nope, no buddy of yours lives here.. He asked if he could use the restroom.. I said ok.. I know I am STUPID.. but I figure calm and non panicky or defensive is much better... maybe throws bad guys of guard?

When he went into the bathroom.. I ran, grabbed the cordless phone and went into the laundry room and tried to call SO's job... NO ANSWER! :O I called his Dad.. told him what was going on... and he told me to call the police... and that he would be right over..... I hung up... went back into the kitchen and began folding towels...like everything was ok... (yes I know I am stupid) He comes out and starts making conversation.. and asking me if I was scared he was there.. I said No, should I be? Meanwhile... SO's Dad called SO and told him the message and some how.. SO got home in a flash.. he said for once he hit all green lights! He came in and run that guy off!! YAY! Then he fussed at me for having the door open.
It's bad when you can't even have your own front door open.

OP.. I am glad you are OK.

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I would have had a heart attack for sure!
Thats more than scary, thats horrifying! And weird too !

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oh wow that is scary I am glad that you are ok!!!!

very very scary, please be extra vigilant- you really don't know what that man's intentions were!!!!!! I would probably make a police report on it in case you have some kind of weirdo in the area.

OMG@! All I can say is thank God you & your family are ok. Must have been so very scary.

Kathy

oh my! I would of peed my pants! So glad you are ok !

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Susiecat-
You should not have stayed in the house; I would have have been out the door as fast as possible. Who knows what his intentions were and he could have easily overpowered you. Thank goodness nothing happened.

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That would of freaked me out.

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Oh my gosh, can you imagine what would have happened if you had not been so cool-headed, and mayby had a gun handy or even a baseball bat. It sounds like it really was an honest mistake on the guys part, but holy Cow...

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Mary

I always keep all doors locked even when we are home.

DH's friends alway joke about how our house is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. They are not used to having to unlock doors to leave a house.

Of course, loud dogs (Beagles) help to deter people, plus make us feel secure. They will bark at anybody walking down the road (I feel like sometimes they have radar because even if they don't see a person, they will bark and magically they will appear!).

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Wow! That's scary! I'm glad it turned out ok and you and your family are safe. It sounds like he didn't mean any harm, but I would think if he was in the wrong house he would have realized that before he started coming down the stairs. He might have been looking for your purse or something. It might be wise to call it in anyway.

Susiecat. . .. Sounds like your stranger had other intentions. You should have used the opportunity when he was in the bathroom to get out of the house. There is nothing in there that he could have taken that would be more important than your life. I'm glad he didn't get the chance to hurt you though. You were lucky.

I have a funny story related to this. I usually lock all my doors when I'm home, but one time I was in the shower and I heard footsteps. I couldn't remember, but I thought maybe I had left the backdoor unlocked. The steps came right to the bathroom and opened the door. I ended up hitting my then husband over the head with the plunger. . .woops! He was working in the area and came home unexpectedly because he had forgotten his lunch. Needless to say, after that, he always loudly announced that it was him if he came home in the middle of the day.

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You never know. Maybe he expected not to find you there and made up that excuse. Scary!!!
Glad all of you have acted calm in these situatins. That probably helped.

omg! i am glad everybody is ok. I would of freaked!. We always keep our doors locked out of habit. We only have a front door and not a sliding glass/screen door also. So that is probably why we always lock our doors.

steph

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I don't lock my doors either because I have a very large dog (Great Dane) who is my shadow. I have had alot of contractors in and out of the house over the past few months and I think I'm gonna have to start locking up. I decided this when I watched one of my Amish contractors climb in the window hole (replacing the window) and my Great Dane watched him do it. OP, I would have been terrified. I'm with some of the crew above and think that this guy knew where he was but was making it up on the fly.

Whoa!

Actually... I sort of did that once.

I was walking and saw a realtors sign that said "Open House - Tuesday, 7 - 9".

But I thought it said Thursday.

And it was Thursday, and it was a neat-looking old house I'd always wanted to see.

Soooo..... I went in and walked around. It was filthy and the dogs greeted me loudly. I was shocked that the realtor hadn't told them to clean the place before the open house! I got all the way up the stairs and heard someone in the shower and got rather freaked out. It was then that I turned and made my way OUT of the house and noticed what the sign *really* said.

Whooops!

But the owners were none the wiser about my presence!

OMG!! I would have totally freaked out!


wowitsdark..LOL! That is FUNNY! I would have done the very same exact thing! LOL!!

I'm a scaredy-cat so I would have flipped! And Susiecat,, I would have flown out the door the minute I had a chance!! Goodness, I keep our house locked up tight for those very reasons!!

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I would have just died right then and there. I told my husband that if he loves me he will purchase me the 975,000 taser that I found.

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I have always kept my doors locked but we recently had a horrible incident in northwest NJ that made me even more determined to keep the doors locked. First of all, this is a really safe area. We are a county made up of mostly small rural communities with a few larger towns. Last summer in a town not too far from us a woman was murdered in her bed.
Her town is near I-78 and there is a big truck stop at the exit for this particular town. A trucker walked from the truck stop into the town and just started checking doors. If they were locked he just kept going until he found an unlocked door. This was the middle of the night. He entered her home and killed her. They caught the creep up in Mass. because a few days after this woman was murdered, he climbed into a teenager's room through the window and tried to rape her. Fortunately, she made some noise and her parents woke up and called 911 and restrained the guy until the police came.
This happened last year and he has since confessed to murdering the woman here in NJ and is being investigated for other unsolved murders in towns near interstates.

She would be alive today if she had locked her door. http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10598193

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OP, so glad you're all right. That is so scary.

I don't mean to sound rude, but why in the heck would you keep a door open and unlocked at 12:45 in the morning?!! Isn't that just asking for trouble? When I first read it I thought it was in the afternoon but then I re-read it and realized it was after midnight! And especially with children in the house.

Are people still that naive to believe there aren't people out with intent to do harm?

Please everyone, don't take for granted that 'it won't happen to me'. Please keep your doors locked!! And sometimes even a locked door won't keep someone intent on coming in. That happened to us years ago. We were robbed while we were at church. The thieves used a crowbar to break the deadbolt on our back door.

Mom2Twins...you didn't sound rude, but since you asked I will answer. I had only intended to have the door open long enough to cool the house so the kids would fall asleep. We live on a very quiet street where everyone knows everyone. The door had been open all day up until when my husband went to bed and shut it for the night, so when I re-opened it I didn't even think to check if the screen door was locked.

It was a mistake that won't be made again, and I truly believe the guy was telling the truth. He was as startled as I was and couldn't apologize enough. He didn't have anything with him (weapons, bags to stash stuff, etc)...he parked right outside the house, and my husbands car was in the driveway and interior lights were on, so if he was trying to rob or harm a sleeping household, ours certainly didn't look "sleeping".

I'm surprised by how many people have had similar situations occur, and I'm thankful that everyone is ok.

I can relate. Remember the Washington DC area sniper. Well, it was at that time and I was taking my dog out into my own backyard. I opened the door to find a man with a backpack and very long hair right outside my door. He did not look like he belonged. I was convinced that he was the sniper. It turned out that he was a visitor to my next door neighbor who lived off the alley behind me. I screamed. He ran. My neighbor never apologized. I think that it took 5 years off my life.