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I'm a stay at home mom with two kids 2 & 4. I love living in West Islip. I'm home alone 12 hours a day, so, I get nervous when my bell rings. having been a victim of a robbery in my single days living in Brooklyn, I'm sure you can understand my paranoia. Well every week, I have a kid (sometimes kids) ringing my bell trying to sell me candy. I have a stained glass door so I can see through, and yell out "no thanks" from behind the door. Sometimes, they ring my bell when my kids are in bed. My dog barks, kids wake up crying. What makes these kids think they could ring bells as late as 8 at night. I'm thinking about getting a locked fence on the bottom of my steps. My dog heard someone climbing my steps, so before this boy could ring my bell, I yelled out "no thanks," this didn't stop him from reaching to ring my bell, again "no thanks" (It was 8:20pm, kids were in bed) he still didn't go away, I yelled out "NO NO NO, Please go away"
I'm sure people will say "he was just a kid, why be afraid" well, the there was a van right behind him with two men in it. I saw them from the window. This was a technique people used in Brooklyn, to get an idea of who is home.
Now, how do I keep these guys off my property, should I get a fence? Is it silly to go that far? Please keep in mind, I was a victim of a robbery, having walked in on someone in my home as a kid. That fear will never leave me. As you all know, it's not cheap living in Long Island, I'm here for safety, but I still can't help but wonder what if.
If it is as simple as getting a fence and keeping it locked, then that's what I would do. There have been too many home invasions on the island, so I understand why you wouldn't open the door. You have to do what you think is necessary to protect you and your family. You mention that you have a dog, maybe put on the front door "beware of dog". Maybe it would help.
It just takes one time for you to open that door and then having it forced in and your life changed forever.
Just ignore them. I do. They usually ring the bell twice then walk away. I do that for all of the solicitors, the Jehovah's on Saturday mornings walking up and down the street knocking on everyone's door and the kids with the plastic boxes etc.
Sometimes, nothing works, unless it's a pitbull in a fenced yard.
You could start with a no trespassing/no soliciting sign, which even well within view, most people ignore it or believe that for some reason it does not pertain to "them".
It is very frustrating, I have all kinds of signs and warnings and people just blatently ignore them, and it really pisses me off.
My thing is, if I don't already know you're on your way over, then don't come on my property. Don't come to my door.
Even the doorhangers that business' have people going block by block, door by door, that is soliciting darnit! "No soliciting" means no soliciting. Even though you didn't actually knock on my door, you ignored the posted signs and trespassed onto my property to hang your little thing on my door knob or slip some silly flier in my mailbox. I too am a little skittish lately because of an upswing in daytime burgleries and home invasions in my neighborhood, and I also had a few stalker incidents way back when I had my 15 minutes, so when the bell rings, it really rattles my cage.
In reality, the signs don't do squat, and to actually have to answer the door and chastise solicitors for ignoring them is just not right either because it defeats the purpose of having the signs in the first place. I am a very private person and do not appreciate anyone, at all, showing up at my doorstep trying to push something on me, whatever the hell it may be. And, to have to spend a fortune to Fort Knox your home to protect your privacy is not right either. Spending a few grand to fence in your yard because of ignorant idiots just isn't right, and, you would really have to put a lock on the gate because many of these clowns will just open the gate and come up to your door.
Just ignore them. I do. They usually ring the bell twice then walk away. I do that for all of the solicitors, the Jehovah's on Saturday mornings walking up and down the street knocking on everyone's door and the kids with the plastic boxes etc.
That's what I do when the Jehovahs come through.
(Although you can't train your dog to ignore them and not bark or for your kids not to wake up *** sigh ***)
As for your locked gate at the end of the stairway idea, it might be a fire hazard to your family and the "sales managers" may very well instruct the kids to climb over it anyway. Where is your mailbox? Having a locked gate might prevent you from getting your mail. You could put up a NO SOLICITORS sign and that might deter them, but I suppose it could kinda ruin the look of your front yard.
This "door to door candy selling scheme" is usually orchestrated by adults who are too lazy to get a "REAL JOB" and instead run groups of kids out to LI and drop them off in various locations to pound the pavement and sell candy and other items. It is usually NOT for any legitimate charity or school fund raiser! I have actually noticed that these days the legitimate school fund raisers are using websites for people to order what they are selling, NOT sending the kids door to door to sell.
I do not have a problem with the "door to door candy kids," but I know they exist because sometimes I do see them in different towns in front of supermarkets or other popular stores. (When I see them I don't buy anything but I give them a couple of bucks and instruct them that it is for YOU ... meaning don't give it to your handler because you don't have to since you did not sell a product!).
If I DID have a problem, I would contact my Village Hall and inquire as to whether the adults using this as a business and using child labor need a peddler's license or need to have kids who are at least old enough to get working papers! I am sure they would instruct Public Safety and/or our Code Enforcement Officers to keep an eye out for this and stop the kids and find out who the adults are behind it and straighten things out.
I do not live in West Islip and don't know anything about their town government and its track record on quality of life issues, but it couldn't hurt for you to contact them and express your concerns, which are valid, as some "door to door" kid salesforce handlers could indeed be criminals. I remember a case where it used to be popular for companies to trek inner-city young adults all over the country to "sell magazines" door to door. They would come into a town, blitz it, and leave before anyone started asking about peddler's licenses, etc. Well one of their salesmen (as all of their salesforce, completely unscreened as to criminal record) raped and killed a grandmother who was working at home when she answered her door.
Have you reported these incidents to the local police precient? It helps if the police are aware of potential burglars casing the neighborhood. Short of that, a nice big german shepard in the front yard, will make one think twice.
Sometimes, nothing works, unless it's a pitbull in a fenced yard.
You could start with a no trespassing/no soliciting sign, which even well within view, most people ignore it or believe that for some reason it does not pertain to "them".
It is very frustrating, I have all kinds of signs and warnings and people just blatently ignore them, and it really pisses me off.
My thing is, if I don't already know you're on your way over, then don't come on my property. Don't come to my door.
Even the doorhangers that business' have people going block by block, door by door, that is soliciting darnit! "No soliciting" means no soliciting. Even though you didn't actually knock on my door, you ignored the posted signs and trespassed onto my property to hang your little thing on my door knob or slip some silly flier in my mailbox. I too am a little skittish lately because of an upswing in daytime burgleries and home invasions in my neighborhood, and I also had a few stalker incidents way back when I had my 15 minutes, so when the bell rings, it really rattles my cage.
In reality, the signs don't do squat, and to actually have to answer the door and chastise solicitors for ignoring them is just not right either because it defeats the purpose of having the signs in the first place. I am a very private person and do not appreciate anyone, at all, showing up at my doorstep trying to push something on me, whatever the hell it may be. And, to have to spend a fortune to Fort Knox your home to protect your privacy is not right either. Spending a few grand to fence in your yard because of ignorant idiots just isn't right, and, you would really have to put a lock on the gate because many of these clowns will just open the gate and come up to your door.
Amen.
1. If anyone leaves ANYTHING in your mailbox, take the flier and give it to your local postmaster so they can take appropriate action. It is against federal law to leave anything but US mail delivered by a postman in a person's private mailbox.
2. What "15 minutes?" Inquiring minds want to know. Tell us what you did that landed you on the front pages!
I have the same problem, I just open the door and tell them I already bought. They do have this handy first aid kit for $10 that I bought twice and leave in the glove box of the cars.
When these kids come, its usually getting dark. The last time they came was very late and it was very cold. I do show my kids what other kids have to do and we talk about education etc. It puts things in perspective for my own kids.
A supervisor for a Smithtown youth group that raises money through door-to-door candy sales has been arrested after authorities found several children under his charge walking the streets in frigid temperatures without supervision, Nassau police said Sunday.
Jule Huston, 26, who has supervised candy-selling runs and other activities for nonprofit New York Youth Club for nine years, was charged Saturday night with 11 misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of resisting arrest, police said.
It is the second arrest of a New York Youth Club supervisor this month. Adam Maxwell, 25, of Hempstead, was charged on Jan. 12 with child endangerment by Nassau police when Cedarhurst residents called police about the children out in freezing weather, police said."
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