An unwelcome caller at our door.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Here's a cracking one for you....

Lenore got home from the cinema last night about 9pm (I've been off sick for the past week following a hospitalization - long story for another time). We were both exhausted so we hit the sack about 10pm. I was sound asleep by 10.30. At 11.15pm - the house is in complete darkness - the doorbell goes.

Dog goes nuts barking away, I fly down the stairs in my PJ and boxers, opened the front door to a young guy in his late teens. He says to me... "Sorry to bother you but do you run the Pavilion Cinema?"

I said I did and what was up. I expected him to be telling me he's just driven past and found it in flames or something.

He said.." I'm really sorry but I was in there tonight and I forgot my car keys. Would you mind going back in, opening it up and letting me get my keys?":ragin::ragin::ragin::ragin::ragin:

I'd love to brag that even I learned a few new sweary words but the truth is I was remarkably refrained and told him NO WAY was I going back in. Cinema re-opens at 12.30 and he can collect his lost property then. I then closed the door and went back to bed. There was a Beemer in the street so I knew the guy had some sort of transport even if it wasn't his own car. If he was locked out his house, worse case scenario he had a rough night's sleep in (presumably his mates) car ahead of him.

He went in today about 6.15pm and Lenore asked him how he got our address... It turns out "one of his mates" knows we own a MINI and a Freelander 4x4 so they drove around Tweedbank looking for our cars on our driveway and knocked on our door.

After 30 years of running cinema's I thought I'd experienced it all.:frown:

A.

[Delboy]

Flamin' heck! I'd have went mental - what a cheek! Slightly worrying that they drove around tracking you down though....

[GCA3N]

Words fail me Andy i cannot believe that someone would knock on your door at that time, what a cheeky bugger.

sent from my galaxy S ll

[Craig]

Jeezo!! :frown:

Not great mate and kinda worrying people can track you down to your house..... Kinda happens tho in a small town :yes nod:

[AndyP & Lenore]

Jeezo!! :frown:

Not great mate and kinda worrying people can track you down to your house..... Kinda happens tho in a small town :yes nod:

Frikkin right!

The problem is our cars (especially the MINI's) are well known in the town. Since we started running the Pavilion in 1993 we must have had over a hundred part time staff, most of whom know we live in Tweedbank (somewhere). So the odds are against us on folk finding us if they really want to. You just have to rely on common sense ruling their head, and when they find the house in darkness late at night, you have two choices;

1. Suck it up, crash at your mates house and pick your keys up the next day.
2. Be extremely rude, wake us up, ruin our sleep and get told to get stuffed, then crash at your mates house and pick your keys up the next day.

Unfortunately, this young lad was at the sharp end of life's learning curve - he was probably 17 or 18 - and clearly thought I'd simply say.. "No bother mate, I'll just get dressed and follow you in." I think he was genuinely surprised I was less than enthusiastic about that idea.

I said to Lenore as soon as I got into bed... "Time to move." And I'd be serious, if we weren't only a few years off paying off our mortgage.:ragin::ragin:

A.

[Craig]

The youth of today :rolleyes: I must be getting old !! :lol:

Just a complete lack of consideration :frown:

[ELFMAN]

Despite his tracking skills. the guy was obviously a selfish numpty Andy. Bad enough as it was from a slightly worrying and very annoying point of view, even if you were fighting fit there's NO WAY you'd have gone out in the middle of the night on your own with a complete stranger to open your cinema. Before you know it, there's four of them, your cinema's robbed and your car's gone. There's a fine line between Nice and Dumb - luckily you know which is which!

[AndyP & Lenore]

.... there's NO WAY you'd have gone out in the middle of the night on your own with a complete stranger to open your cinema. Before you know it, there's four of them, your cinema's robbed and your car's gone. There's a fine line between Nice and Dumb - luckily you know which is which!

I have to admit I got back into bed wondering if I'd sidestepped a bomb. But it turned out the guy was afterall, just a selfish numpty.

Does make you wonder though.


A.

[minimad]

good old joe public!!sometimes people forget you have a private life !lol

[john]

I take my hat off to him (if I had one on) Am I the only sucker on here?

I would have gone and got them for him, I'm pretty sure he would have been chuffed and also told his buddies how nice you were, now he will just torch you cras and house :smilewinkgrin:

[Sheilz]

I take my hat off to him (if I had one on) Am I the only sucker on here?

I would have gone and got them for him, I'm pretty sure he would have been chuffed and also told his buddies how nice you were, now he will just torch you cras and house :smilewinkgrin:


Defo good PR but if there's no competition in the area ?!!!!

[Ferengo]

If I'd been caught off guard I'd probably have opened up but if had time to think (Or been awake properly) I'd have said I couldn't do it.

[Gismo]

I'm kinda on the fence with this one, you can't beat service but on the other hand it could have been a set up.
Hard decision to make but i think i would have done the same as John and opened up

[AndyP & Lenore]

Defo good PR but if there's no competition in the area ?!!!!

PR? Sheilz, It's nothing to do with PR or competition. It's pure and simple good manners NOT to ring someone's doorbell late at night when there's clearly no sign of life inside.

If my front door light or porch light or my living room was clearly lit up with a telly running away, then fair enough, maybe it's worth a try. Although I still doubt I'd have willingly allowed 2 or 4 blokes (who I don't know) to follow me into the cinema, watch me open it up and "retrieve lost property." Maybe I've seen too many movies, but would YOU do that at that time of night?

I can see John is just trying to wind me up, but I don't believe you really think my reason for not getting this guy's keys was because there's no competition in the area.:thud:

A.

[GCA3N]

Have to agree Andy. These are the kinda stories you read in the paper, where we all turn round and say "what was he thinking"

I think your decision was spot on, in fact TBH I don't even think I would have opened the door at that time of night to a total stranger, that guy could have been anyone. It is a sad day when you have to think like this but I am sorry that is the society we live in today.

[ELFMAN]

I can't believe anybody's actually suggesting Andy should have gone and done this chump's bidding! :ragin: :argh:

SERVICE? PR?? Yes, it would've been nice for all of us to read a thread that Andy had been found unconscious in an alleyway - I DON'T THINK. "What the hell was he thinking about?" would be the chorus. This isn't Camberwick Green we're talking about here, it's a stranger at your door at 10.30pm and an open invitation to place yourself in a potentially LETHAL situation. NO BLEEDIN' CHANCE MATE, come down to the cinema first thing in the morning and we'll get your keys when there are others present and I know it's not a set-up. As Greig said, it's a risk even opening your door at that time of night - you don't know what's going on or about to kick off. The most I would have done is to take his mobile No. and call him when I'd found the keys. The guy should appreciate how it looks form Andy's point of view and not be so daft to lose the keys in the first place and be so selfish as to expect someone to run around in the middle of the night to save him some inconvenience. Tosser. :frown:

That's before we get into the fact that Andy's been pretty seriously unwell recently... so he'd be even more vulnerable. What about INSURANCE? If anything went wrong, would Andy or the Premises be covered if he had willingly opened the place up for the guy(s)? I doubt it.
Better to be slightly unpopular than slightly plumbed into a Life Support system.

[Crombers]

I take my hat off to him (if I had one on) Am I the only sucker on here?

I would have gone and got them for him, I'm pretty sure he would have been chuffed and also told his buddies how nice you were, now he will just torch you cras and house :smilewinkgrin:

It's only a set of keys FFS, I'd have sent the wife ;)

[ELFMAN]

I'd have sent the wife ;)

That Poor Karen... :frown: Chivalry is not dead - it's in Intensive Care!

[ianking]

I would have said, nah its not me mate. The fella that runs it lives round at Earlston, he has a Mini as well, maybe thats why your a bit confused. Anyway you go knock his door and Im sure he will go to Gala and open up for you. ;)

[Crombers]

That Poor Karen... :frown: Chivalry is not dead - it's in Intensive Care!


:thumbs up::thumbs up:

[AndyP & Lenore]

I would have said, nah its not me mate. The fella that runs it lives round at Earlston, he has a Mini as well, maybe thats why your a bit confused. Anyway you go knock his door and Im sure he will go to Gala and open up for you. ;)

:lol::lol:

[Sheilz]

Ooops! Sorry Andy the exclamation marks were literal alternative to the smiley winkies. And no I don't think you opted 'not to' because of no competition. The remark was not intended seriously.

[Neil and Lorna]

I would have said, nah its not me mate. The fella that runs it lives round at Earlston, he has a Mini as well, maybe thats why your a bit confused. Anyway you go knock his door and Im sure he will go to Gala and open up for you. ;)

Wouldn't of found us in, as we were away at Silverstone with the Mini. :smilewinkgrin:
So he would probably of gone back to Andrew and Lenore's even later to tell them he couldn't find us.:ragin:

Neil.:popcorn: