This actually happened to me a year ago, and I'd like to ask what people would have done if in my shoes.
I lived alone in a largish farmhouse in Australia, approximately 30 minutes from the nearest police station.
In Australia concealed carry is illegal, and I didn't own guns anyway.
Having just had a long and tiring day at university, I arrived home (an hour drive) at around 11pm. In my fatigued state of mind, I left one of the dining room lights on and went to bed. Bedroom door open, corridor light on, external doors locked. There were curtains draped in the bedroom, but no curtains in the dining/TV room.
At around 2pm, I was slowly awakened by a faint banging noise, growing louder by the second. Out of the frickin blue, my bedroom window was being banged too, and the awakening was pretty damn quick.
Not fully alert yet, I put on my clothes, grabbed a torch, went to the front door and turned on the porch light. And then I realised that opening the door would be just stupid, and retreated to my room. Where the hell was that bloody dog? It's meant to guard the bloody place!
There was some dude running around, banging on the windows and screaming for help. I peered around the curtains to see an average-looking man standing outside.
Stranger: "Sorry to wake you up, but my car's just run out of petrol. Can I use your phone?"
Me: "I just moved in here, mate. I don't have a line phone." [this was a lie, I had lived there for a while and had a line phone and a cell phone]
Unfortunately, I didn't realise that my cell phone was lying in full view of this guy. It was just sitting on the desk. Should have thought of that before-hand!
Stranger: "Can I use your cell phone then? I'll give you some money for the bill."
Stranger: "Here is a dollar."
Me: "Leave it on the ground. You give me the number and I'll relay the call."
Stranger: [pause] "Errr... can I just use it, I need to ring a friend."
Me: "Why do you need to call a friend?"
Stranger: "I'm just lost. I'm looking for a house around here, but I can't find it." [contradicting his previous excuse]
Me: "You give me the number, and I'll call for you."
He gave the number, and I called. There was a woman on the other side who just laughed and gave me an address to give to the wanker.
I gave him the address and relevant directions, and he left without hassle.
During the little conversation, I was acutely aware that [an] accomplice(s) could be breaking through the rear kitchen door or laundry doors (the kitchen door could have been pried with a Philips screw driver), but there was no suspicious noise coming from that direction. There were also no street lights, and the porch light only helped to blind my long-range visual acuity, without really helping to see the stranger at the window.
I'm not really sure what I'd have done if he pulled a gun or broke through the window (it was pretty big and could easily fit a person through). What would you have done in the same situation, and what if he did pull a gun or smash through the window?
I lived alone in a largish farmhouse in Australia, approximately 30 minutes from the nearest police station.
In Australia concealed carry is illegal, and I didn't own guns anyway.
Having just had a long and tiring day at university, I arrived home (an hour drive) at around 11pm. In my fatigued state of mind, I left one of the dining room lights on and went to bed. Bedroom door open, corridor light on, external doors locked. There were curtains draped in the bedroom, but no curtains in the dining/TV room.
At around 2pm, I was slowly awakened by a faint banging noise, growing louder by the second. Out of the frickin blue, my bedroom window was being banged too, and the awakening was pretty damn quick.
Not fully alert yet, I put on my clothes, grabbed a torch, went to the front door and turned on the porch light. And then I realised that opening the door would be just stupid, and retreated to my room. Where the hell was that bloody dog? It's meant to guard the bloody place!
There was some dude running around, banging on the windows and screaming for help. I peered around the curtains to see an average-looking man standing outside.
Stranger: "Sorry to wake you up, but my car's just run out of petrol. Can I use your phone?"
Me: "I just moved in here, mate. I don't have a line phone." [this was a lie, I had lived there for a while and had a line phone and a cell phone]
Unfortunately, I didn't realise that my cell phone was lying in full view of this guy. It was just sitting on the desk. Should have thought of that before-hand!
Stranger: "Can I use your cell phone then? I'll give you some money for the bill."
Stranger: "Here is a dollar."
Me: "Leave it on the ground. You give me the number and I'll relay the call."
Stranger: [pause] "Errr... can I just use it, I need to ring a friend."
Me: "Why do you need to call a friend?"
Stranger: "I'm just lost. I'm looking for a house around here, but I can't find it." [contradicting his previous excuse]
Me: "You give me the number, and I'll call for you."
He gave the number, and I called. There was a woman on the other side who just laughed and gave me an address to give to the wanker.
I gave him the address and relevant directions, and he left without hassle.
During the little conversation, I was acutely aware that [an] accomplice(s) could be breaking through the rear kitchen door or laundry doors (the kitchen door could have been pried with a Philips screw driver), but there was no suspicious noise coming from that direction. There were also no street lights, and the porch light only helped to blind my long-range visual acuity, without really helping to see the stranger at the window.
I'm not really sure what I'd have done if he pulled a gun or broke through the window (it was pretty big and could easily fit a person through). What would you have done in the same situation, and what if he did pull a gun or smash through the window?
