why do people do this at the door?  

I think it is very dangerous to open the door without seeing who it is first. That is why they invented peep holes wasn't it. I don't know the history on the subject, but I think the peephole is a good invention. That way you can look and see who it is, without them really knowing if you looked or not.

I don't like to answer the door if I don't know who it is. And I rarely get company, so the odds are, I am going to look out and see who is there and you will not even know that I am looking at you. As a matter of fact, I often look whenever I here a vehicle pull in the drive, before they even make it to the door.

Have a lovely day!

I have to agree with you there! It's a dangerous thing to do in this day and age. I live out in the countryside, without neighbors, and I would never think of doing this. My doors all have large panes of glass in them, so looking through a peep-hole isn't an option. I do, however, take the time to look out the living room window and see who's at the door before going to open it. There have on occasion been people standing there that I would never open the door for. One guy I'm sure wanted a hunting pass for back into my woods, and he was so shifty looking. Lol, there would be no way I'd open the door to even talk to him, especially being home alone! I'll never understand why people think it's totally safe to just whip their door open, once it's open it's too late to try and re-close it if the person means to do harm!

So you are saying that most people answer their door without first seeing who is at the door? If you watch this movie called "games people play" or the title is something like that. After watching this movie you will always have your door locked and you will never open the door unless you know the person. There are not that many evil people out there but their are 1 to 4% of psychotic or pyschopaths out there. I've a close friend who is a priest and he says that these types of people go to hell when they die. I read online that these types of people might not even have what you call a "soul" and they have almost no emotional intelligence. They are the ultimate selfish and have no love nor caring for their fellow man. Plus they have no conscience and do not know right from wrong.

There's also the door chain, a simple yet effective way to allow you to open the door without opening it fully. It's true that too many people feel so secure in their homes that they feel opening the door is safe too. There have been stories of doors being opened to front door burglars who force their way in with semi-automatic weapons. It's a scary world with desperate people willing to go to extremes to steal for money and drugs.

Well i understand what your saying..in most places i would be scared not to look to see who it is.. or make sure i knew teh person if i lived in a city or town that i didnt know everyone,or trusted..like my town..everyone knows everyone and nothing like what you fear happens here..i can leave my door open all night long and have no fear someone would come in..and it helps i live in teh middle of no where in teh mountains and all my neaighbors are wonderful people..but i lived downtown as well and its just as safe there..have a good one!! April

I get a bat first before i go to door to see whos there

I agree with you, it is very dangerous these days to open the door without knowing who is behind it. It could be someone with a malicious intent. It is very stupid and idiotic to do this.

You have a very good point there.People are used to the spntaneious opening of the doors.Times are changing but not the habits.It is always too dangerous for a lonely lady to open the door without looking through the peep hole who is the person knocking at.