Ding-Dong-Ditch, Drop, And Dial Dad
It is summer, and I am unemployed. I’m at my family’s garden-style apartment filling out online applications. My computer desk is near our front door.
I hear a knock and get up to answer. I hear some scurrying as I get to the door. When I open it, nobody is there. I just see the empty landing for our apartment and three others on the same level.
This knock-and-run occurs a couple more times over the next couple of hours, with the knockers — I’ve heard multiple giggles after the subsequent knockings — running off each time.
For what turns out to be the final time, I’m standing next to the door. The knock comes and I quickly open the door. Surprised, I see three teens take off down the stairs on either side of the landing. I also hear a clattering of one of the boys’ cell phones as it drops onto the landing.
I casually go over and pick up the phone. I go back inside and start looking over the phone.
A minute later, I hear a knock but no running. Through the door, I address the knocker.
Me: “Hello?”
Boy: “Hi, I was wondering if I could have my phone back. It fell out of my pocket.”
Me: “That’s okay. I’m just going to call the listing for ‘Dad,’ and he can pick it up after he gets home from work.”
Boy: *Dejectedly* “Okay.”
I called “Dad” and explained what was happening. He agreed for me to hold the phone until that evening. It turned out to be the resident of the apartment diagonal to mine on the same landing. He apologized, and I assume he gave his son a good talking-to.
This story was featured in our May 2020 roundup!
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