Who Is Knocking at Your Door?

My latest “question of the day” prompted me to write this post about who comes knocking at our door here in Chile!

I must start by clarifying that no one actually comes “knocking” on our door because every house in Chile is surrounded by a metal gate, and ours is no exception. In fact, our gate is padlocked in two spots and we have an alarm on our house as well. Reassuring, right?

But we do get our doorbell rung, not every day, but frequently. As I’ve observed our neighbors, most do not even answer the doorbell. If they do, they simply open the front door and speak to the person at the gate from a safe distance. However, we usually keep our front door open for fresh air so it’s rather obvious that we’re home! Maybe it’s the “gringo” in us, but we tend to actually go to the gate and talk to whomever is there.

These have been our “visitors” the past six months …

Survey takers. I am convinced that I am the only person in the entire neighborhood who actually stands out at the gate for 20 minutes and takes these surveys on everything from average milk consumption to what brands of detergent I buy! But I figure these people need their jobs and the least I can do is help them out a bit.

The meter guy. This one’s pretty obvious – he comes to check our energy consumption.

The cardboard guy. He drives around town with a small cart, collecting cardboard everywhere he goes. When we first moved in, he visited us regularly! Now that we’re settled, he doesn’t come around much anymore.

Mormon missionaries. Two young men, one of whom is almost always American. Although our religious beliefs are vastly different, Pedro likes to take the time to talk with them. He enjoys the theological discussion and says that he always thinks “that’s somebody’s kid, very far from home.” (Isn’t my husband such a nice guy!)

Ladies (occasionally men) begging with children. Usually they are asking for clothes or non-perishable food. We have a policy of never giving money, so usually I will find something the kids have outgrown or else I will give them some bread and a carton of milk. I never know if they truly use the items or if they re-sell them, but I figure that is between them and God!

Garbage men. They don’t always stop, but once or twice they have asked for a drink. (And then of course there were those fake garbage men collecting money at Christmas …)

A fruit guy. Not sure how else to call him, but he was driving an old car through the neighborhood and trying to sell big boxes of fruit out of his trunk!

A deaf/mute woman. She came by today, selling children’s books and kitchen towels. I really didn’t want to answer the door because Owen was sick and he was crying. But I realized she couldn’t hear him when she kept ringing the bell! She held out a list of prices and I found a little money to buy a couple of towels – but I also made sure to write down the name and phone number of our ABWE missionary who works with the deaf here in Chile. I hope she contacts her!

The 3 AM mother and daughters. This was a very specific door-ringing; once a very over-tired Owen was crying loudly in the wee hours of the morning and the doorbell rang. It was these ladies who started berating my husband in rapid Spanish for not calming down our child. Who they were or where they came from, is anyone’s guess!

I think that’s the end of my list for now. I will write about our most recent caller separately. So how about you – any interesting knocks on your door lately??