I was awoken this morning around 5.30am by the distant sound of somebody knocking on a distant door. My first thought, foggy as it was, related to the insensitive of the person doing the knocking as to their surroundings, and that others were sleeping. I tend to find it appalling when people in small apartment complexes walk and talk loudly or bang on doors without consideration of those around them. I've experienced simpler instances in hotels when late night partiers linger, laugh and loudly dialog while stopped in a hallway outside your room door. Where's your consideration for others? And at 5.30am? Christ, I shssh my kids at 9pm and I turn off the lights on my car when I pull into a parking space where somebody's apartment window is positioned. It's called "Consideration".
The knocking happened again! A second and even louder time. Waking me fully as I laid quietly and waited for the probable laughter, chatter and full-volume exchange likely to follow. But none did. What did happen was the knocking repeated a third time, far louder now, because it was getting closer. And this time I heard the sound of the person in the apartment above me as they got out of bed, walked to and opened their door.
The voices were soft and muffled. Gratefully. But now i was awake and trying to run the scenarios down as I tried to figure out why a door-to-door knocking would occur in the first place.
My absolute first thought was that the was an emergency of some sort. A fire, perhaps. Or a problem with a car, or an accident, or something of that nature. This all ran through my head as I got up and put something on, remembering a friend who's home fire landed them out in the cold without any clothes on.
I went to the door and slide the blinds to the side just enough to look out and see one man standing mid-flight on the stairs leading to the second floor apartment. The tenant there, Fonzi (Yes, "Fonzi", don't get me started on that right now), had answered the door and was speaking to a second man standing on the landing outside his apartment. The man talking distinctly said something about "looking for his girlfriend".
I wanted to ignore it all and go back to bed, but something told me it was inevitable. Not only had the knock progressed my way, but I now stood looking out through the slight open section of blinds that were still in motion from being moved, motion that was illuminated by the lighting outside the apartment. And the fact that the guy standing on the stairs was looking my way because of it. I knew I'd just entered this scene in full, I would have some involvement no matter what. I decided I would not be the passive recipient of their next door knock, but the aggressive player in what was about to unfold.
So I opened my door.
The man on the steps looked at me and then up to his friend, and motioned to him that there was somebody down stairs too. I braced myself to hopefully dismiss whatever might be going on and get back to sleep as his friend came down the steps and approached my door. A door I stood holding open and blocking at the same time.
I refer to these two as men, but to me, they were kids, or at least "younger men" in their mid-twenties. The door-knocker approached me as his friend remained on the stairs (yes, I was maintaining awareness of all my surroundings at this point) with an apologetic look and introduction. He said he was looking for and was worried about his girlfriend, he tracked her to our building with his phone. He reeked of beer. He was clearly agitated and acting out of anxiety or anger. He said he just wanted to know that she was OK.
I told him I don't know his girlfriend and there's nobody here but me. He countered by showing me the circular shaded indication of her location being in my building on his outstretched phone, and said "…. but it show's me that she's right here".
He was visibly shaking, and as the potential outcomes played through my predictive imagination I was shaking a bit too, at what an explosive situation this was. Anything could happen. Accusations could be made, he could challenge my position that I was alone and ask to check. He could pull his friend into the exchange. It could get ugly.
I was in my mid-twenties once. I had my own similar instances of discord and suspicions and struggles managing the ups and downs of relationships myself. And I found myself feeling empathy for this guy. Irritation, definitely, and a modest degree of fear over the possibilities of having to be in any sort of confrontational exchange too. But mostly, empathy.
As I looked at his phone I said in a sleepy voice, "Brother, I gotta tell you that GPS is not always that precise. My kids mom has tracked them and thought they were in a cemetery a great distance away from their school while they were in class, or in some strangers house when they were on a nearby soccer field where she had dropped them off earlier". I assured him again that his girlfriend was not in my apartment, and he accepted that graciously. Almost too graciously, to be honest. Come on. Is it that far fetched that some 20-something woman would find this 50+ year old pudgy greying old man attractive enough to come spend the night with? OK, well, I guess it is. And I accept that.
I returned to my bed and listened to he an his friend's muffled voices, and I realized that this could still actually get ugly. They could find her in another apartment nearby, either with another man or staying with a girlfriend in order to avoid this drunk boyfriend's possible abuse. Any number of outcomes were possible, and doing nothing further felt apathetic and irresponsible.
I called the apartment security hotline, I explained the situation, and they said they'd dispatch security to investigate. They agreed that it sounded like it could be a problem.
The men's voices faded out moments later, before any security could have arrived, as they left the area outside my apartment. And that's the last I've heard of it so far.