Anonymous wrote:if a big ass storm was coming and a mom with two children knocked on my door? YES, I WOULD HELP.

This. If there's a natural disaster, yes. If not, no. If someone is screaming outside or otherwise in distress, I will call 911.

I won't ignore trouble outside. Years ago, I was walking my boyfriends dog outside one afternoon, a little Jack Russell. My boyfriend and his brother were watching a football game inside. Suddenly a huge dog came out of another house and attacked the jack Russell and I started screaming. Boyfriend and brother heard the screaming but never bothered to look out to see what was going on. His dog was severely injured. If he had run out instead, maybe he could have helped and his dog wouldn't have been hurt as badly. I don't know. But because of this, I will always at least try to figure out whether someone needs help and just not ignore it.

Anonymous wrote:Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

I thought that one was solved (same a$$holes who murdered the Harvey family).

I'd like to think that I'd have helped out the woman who lost her kids. And by helped out, I mean let her inside my house, not gone out into floods to try to save kids that were already gone at that point. But I have a hard time completely blaming the guy for not helping - it was a crazy, intense situation, and he was probably trying to focus on how to get himself through the storm.

I rarely open the door to people I don't know. So no, I would not have opened the door for her and I most definitely would not have gone out into a flood and strong winds to look for two small children that had already been swept away. It's sad that her kids died, but she had plenty of warning that a storm was coming and should have evacuated prior to it getting bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

She had 2 young children in her arms and the water was rising around her. Seriously, you wouldn't try to help her?

I thought she lost the boys down by the car, then on her own went up to the back of the house and asked him to come outside to help? I don't think she had the kids with her. Even so, I likely would have opened the door and at very least called 911 - not sure why this didn't happen. I'm sure DH would have gone out into the storm to search for kids.

Not since Criminal Minds came on the air...

Anonymous wrote:Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

She had 2 young children in her arms and the water was rising around her. Seriously, you wouldn't try to help her?

The guy was a cowardly, selfish prick...while he was not obligated to help, it would have been the right thing to do. Karma should bite his ass big time!

She's claiming she knocked on the door and was turned away before she lost the boys, while they were still with her.

I tend to trust strange women more than I trust strange men. I would have been suspicious of a stranger either wa, but may have relented to help the woman search...I am not sure how I would have reacted.

Probably I would even though I I know I shouldn't.

In that situation, I would have opened my door. Generally speaking I do not open my door unless I know who is on the other side of it. I don't even go to the front door if the doorbell rings.

I thought the story was that after her children were swept away she was knocking on doors to ask people to help her look for them? I would open my door to her, in that case, but I wouldn't have gone out in the storm.

Google culpeper unsolved murder if you want to know what can happen if you answer the door for a stranger supposedly in distress.

if a big ass storm was coming and a mom with two children knocked on my door? YES, I WOULD HELP.

A random stranger on a perfectly normal night -- I'd tell DH to step outside and "take care of it" aka help the person move along by calling for help, etc?

A tragic story of a mother on Staten Island who lost her 2 young sons (ages 2 and 4), during hurricane Sandy, after awave of water swept them away. She apparently knocked on a mans door begging for help and he refused to let her in. seems so horrible...would you try to help a mom with young kids in such a situation...or is it easier to just turn the other way?