Am I getting too grumpy in my old age?

[aaronc879]

Earlier today I was in the bathroom when there was a sudden loud bang that sounded like something hit my house. I ran(hobbled) out to check. I saw two kids running away from my house toward another house. At that house they tried to open the front door pulling on it hard then rang the door bell and ran off. I then checked my door and saw it was partially open. The loud bang was my glass storm door slamming very hard against the side of the house. Luckily the glass didn't shatter and the siding was not cracked. I walked out to the street to the corner and watched where the kids went. Then I walked down there. I didn't see any adults, just several young kids running around unsupervised. I didn't want to go onto their property without consent so I left. I called the police non emergency number and told them what happened. An officer was at my house within 10 minutes, took my statement, and went and talked to the people where the kids went. Ten minutes later two adults came walking up to my house with the two kids that did this and had the kids apologize for "ding dong ditching me". I accepted and thanked them for apologizing. Opening the door of strangers in not ding dong ditch. It is a very dangerous thing to do. I figured I had to do something so this kind of thing doesn't continue all summer and I couldn't find an adult at the house so I called the police. Was that overkill or reasonable?

 

[jazz4cash]

No, you handled that very well IMO. Its easy to assume bad behavior due to bad parenting but not in this case.

 

[silvor]

OVERLY reasonable. Those kids are lucky a different home owner may have been much more aggressive.

 

[Dtail]

It was the correct decision.

 

[Car-Guy]

Sounds about right to me. When I lived in the big city I had to call cops on my neighbors a few times for being AssHat's. Maybe if someone would have called the cops on them when they were younger, I wouldn't have had to deal with them as adults.

Now that I live in the rural countryside, I don't have such problems.

 

[aja8888]

You did the right thing. Those kids are lucky as around here, if they did that, they might have met a the business end of a shotgun.

 

[RetiredHappy]

You did the right thing. Hopefully, the kids are disciplined by the parents and not do that in the future. If they continue with doing ding dong ditch, they may be shot at.

 

[Koolau]

Totally appropriate. You may have kept the kids from sinking deeper into bad behavior. It sounds like the parents wanted to make it right and I'm guessing the kids will have some penance to do - which is appropriate.

Nope! You did a good deed. Good for you, good for the neighborhood and good for the kids involved.

Good on you.

 

[Turbo29]

There is a "Tik Tok Challenge" where kids go and kick front doors in. Maybe you were a victim of that.

 

[RetiredHappy]

There is a "Tik Tok Challenge" where kids go and kick front doors in. Maybe you were a victim of that.

That's what the Ding Dong Ditch game that we are referring to.

 

[Dalton]

You're good. Somebody in authority needs to explain to them that doing that could get them shot, and in my experience, a neighbor telling somebody else's kids that tidbit could be taken the wrong way.

 

[aaronc879]

There is a "Tik Tok Challenge" where kids go and kick front doors in. Maybe you were a victim of that.

Stupid Tik Tok. There are going to be a lot of dead kids.

 

[COcheesehead]

This may sound odd, but I am thankful that we don’t have kids in our neighborhood.
Last neighborhood with kids, years ago, we had balls plug our gutters from kids playing baseball in the street out front and water backed up into our house. The parents of the kids responsible took no action. It all starts with bad parenting.

 

[sparky08]

The slamming of a door with glass in it would make me want to take the action you did.

I'm glad the parents made te kids apologize.

 

[pacergal]

Absolutely the right decision on your part and good responsible parenting on the kids folks part.
Glad they walked them up and made them apologize.

 

[Amethyst]

Those parents were trying to minimize the incident as if you were being a grump. Ding dong ditch is just ringing a doorbell and running away.

However, opening the door without permission is edging over into breaking and entering, plus the door could have shattered and hurt someone. I probably would have explained this, nicely, to the parents and the kids before accepting their apology.

 

[Aerides]

A few years back, some tweens were playing a "game" near the entrance to our development. It's a two lane in road (2 in, 2 out, separated with a small median). About 100 feet from the entrance, they'd placed a large stuffed toy tiger in the road. Driving up to it, first you'd think it was an injured animal, then perhaps a toy that some kid had let fly out the window or something. Cars would stop to pick it up and move it out of the way, or swerve around it, etc. IE, an accident was a possible outcome at some point.

The "kids" thought this was funny, and were hiding in a notch on the fence that lines the street, behind a utility box. They'd put the animal back out once the car drove off.

I fell for it the first time, pulling over and moving it, didn't see the kids. The 2nd time a week or so later I realized....this is a prank. I drove past, u-turned, and spotted the kids. This time I went back, pulled over, got the toy, and went up and yelled at them a good bit. That they were going to cause an accident, etc. They pretended to look remorseful. I took the toy with me when I left.

I waited as well and saw them slinking off home, laughing. So I took photos of them. We have a community patrol sheriff. I went and showed him the pics and explained the whole thing. He knew who they were and told me he'd speak with their families. I did not want to have them come to my house and know where I lived (big enough neighborhood that unless they decided to stalk me, they didn't know who I was). Teenagers at that age mostly outgrow the pranks, but a very small number can go much worse.

 

[Golden Mean]

Works for me, but I would never be home with my external doors unlocked.

 

[youbet]

I took the toy with me when I left.

Great job! And I assume you now have that tiger toy stuffed, mounted and on display on the wall of your trophy room! A memento like that will commemorate your achievement forever.

 

[youbet]

I didn't want to go onto their property without consent so I left.

Very, very smart.

Your overall handling of the situation was very appropriate. You showed restraint and thoughtfulness in your actions while achieving a reasonable outcome.

 

[TickTock]

You made a good decision.

I'm glad the parents had their kids apologize to you. Could have been much worse (regardless, I think you made the right call.)

 

[audreyh1]

Well handled. I’m glad you got the police involved.

 

[Trailwalker]

I admit to doing foolish things like ding dong ditch when I was a kid, but opening your door and slamming it takes things to a new (potentially property damaging) level. You did the right thing. Parents did the right thing. Kids may have learned a lesson. That's the kind of thing that makes adults of any age grumpy.

 

[aaronc879]

Well handled. I’m glad you got the police involved.

I'm glad I live in an area where police still respond to calls like this. I have heard other people mention how police rarely even respond to stolen car calls. I would never live in a big city that was like that.

 

[Dtail]

I had a couple of kids who called me perhaps 3 times a year to goof around. I suspect they were about 10-11 years old. One boy, one girl. Threatened them once when the call came in with the displayed number by mistake.
The calls stopped, but then about 6 years later they returned. Crazy but then it stopped in about 2 more years.
Nothing since.