r/mildlyinfuriating • u/BulkheadRed • 1d ago

Winter is Coming Door-to-door salesman steps over the tape blocking off my freshly painted steps

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I spent over 20 hours prepping, sanding, and painting my front steps while the weather is still good before winter, including taking two afternoons off work to get the job done before it's too cold. I just finished the job this afternoon and the paint is still tacky.

There is a long strip of painters tape attached to a paint can very obviously blocking off the stairs when you're facing it.

I have NO Halloween decorations up yet either.

Edit: for everyone saying it's not enough or my tape job is shit, it's like a 45 degree angle across the steps, and it's not a construction zone, it's my house. If you walked up to a piece of tape blocking your path at a residence where you weren't invited, you would probably at least second guess whether you should be proceeding forward. Thankfully, it's mostly dry and there is no need for rework as far as I can tell. That's what makes it mildly infuriating. He COULD have done damage, but it doesn't look like he did.

Edit 2: this is also not a common occurrence. I get MAYBE one knock a month on my door unsolicited. It just unfortunately happened to be the one day I had painted. It wasn't an expected situation. This was a mere just in case measure. Small town Canada.

[OC]

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u/devil_lettuce 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hard to tell from this angle, but I honestly probably wouldn't have known either. That really sucks though, hopefully he didn't mess it up too much

Also it looks dark outside... Why is door to door sales coming at night time? That would have pissed me off in and of itself

447

u/OkRepresentative7467 1d ago

Looks like he barely had to step higher than normal to go over it. But yea, maybe he should have wondered why there was tape there to begin with.

69

u/PunchDrunkPrincess 21h ago

He said he thought it was a halloween decoration. If he wasn't paying attention I can believe that..but he should have been paying attention

10

u/DiegesisThesis 13h ago

Nothing spookier than a single piece of blue painters tape oooohhhh

He's either lying out his ass or is a monumental dipshit.

1

u/PunchDrunkPrincess 3h ago

He's a door to door salesman. Probably a safe bet he's a dipshit.

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u/tryyeezus 1d ago

Prob lucky he didn't trip and try to sue for insurance money

23

u/poronpaska 23h ago edited 23h ago

America is a hellscape. Edit: downvotes made me change my mind. Being sued over a strip of tape blocking your own porch sure does sound like heaven

18

u/BulkheadRed 23h ago

Yay for being Canadian then I guess.

3

u/Grabbsy2 21h ago

In ontario we have the Occupiers liability act. Canada Post can sue if they slip on your driveway if it hasnt been salted.

If this rope/tape wasnt clearly visible, you could be liable if someone trips

4

u/CMDR-TealZebra 16h ago

Sorry mate but that applies to us as well. Next time you should make the tape way more obvious

1

u/TakeTwentyEight 22h ago

It’s because our insurance situation is so bad. Since healthcare isn’t free, it’s more of thing when you get injured when it’s not your fault. No one wants to be in debt for something that’s not even their fault.

It really does suck. Just another reason that universal healthcare needs to be a thing. Would probably reduce a lot of litigation.

-2

u/CMDR-TealZebra 16h ago

Yes but no. Your pathway to the front door is basically an easement, you cannot trespass people for using it.

So if you put something up and someone gets hurt from it you are in trouble because what if it was a kid or an old person or a blind guy or emts?

27

u/UnknownSense 23h ago

My experience is they intentionally wait until like 8 or 9 pm because they know you’re home and will probably open the door.

42

u/TurkeySlurpee666 21h ago

I do construction. People completely ignore safety cones and caution tape. The only thing that works (usually) is creating a true physical barrier that's too annoying for the average person to cross. Cones alone don't work. Cones with tape on the top work a bit better, but cones with tape on the top and in the middle work the best.

We also have to be super careful when laying out cones on roads. If people get confused or feel trapped, they panic and accelerate, sometimes through barricades. I'm pretty sure it's their flight response kicking in, but people freaking out behind the wheel is a big concern for us.

2

u/cl0udmaster 13h ago

That's a very optimistic view of their reaction. My counterpoint would be that they accelerate and drive through barricades because they're dumb.

60

u/BulkheadRed 23h ago

The camera angle doesn't really do it justice, but it's at like a 45 degree angle across the steps.

They ALWAYS come around in the evening. I never ever answer the door but I knew he was walking all over the fresh paint.

21

u/Surferma4 22h ago

I live in a busy city in California and the ONLY thing that made them stop was my laminating the cities municipal code about door-to-door sales and taping it to my door. They take one look from 5-6 feet away and immediately turn away.

16

u/Level7Cannoneer 21h ago

Why isn’t it straight across?

2

u/krismitka 14h ago

across what? The freshly painted rails?

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u/pjbenn 20h ago

Terrible tape job

9

u/ForsakenBobcat8937 18h ago

It's their own damn house, there shouldn't be a need for any tape at all.

4

u/IrritableGoblin 15h ago

I mean. It's the front porch. It's the number one area attached to your house you'd expect strangers to step. Need? Perhaps not. Unless you want to prevent this exact situation.

6

u/Kelmi 17h ago

Unless there's obvious signs/blockade denying public from entering the property, then walking up to a door and knocking on it is completely legal and expected.

You as a sour hermit can build a massive wall around your property with a locked gate and everything is fine. But if you leave an open access to your door, then in the society we live in, we have decided that it is completely sane and normal to knock on someone's door to try and get their attention.

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u/serious_josh 18h ago

Nothing personal, but that is such an American perspective

8

u/ForsakenBobcat8937 18h ago

I'm not American.

11

u/kabflash 23h ago

You were way nicer then I would have been. Some stupid dasher stepped on my clearly marked freshly seeded (after tilling) lawn and then argued with me that they didn't while I had sat there and watched them on my ring camera.

2

u/shaolinviolin 18h ago

I put a rude sign up saying not to wake up my baby. I haven't had a single cold call since then. I also accidentally answered a sales phone call while waiting for my dr to call and they HUNG UP on me because my baby was screaming.

You can put a sign up even if you don't have a baby by the way. Just tell your friends your pet cactus is the baby.

3

u/kinokits 14h ago

Our ‘baby’ is a partially deaf cat that gets really excited when we have visitors and greets them by meowing as loudly as he can. If you don’t know him, it sounds really aggressive and like he’s going to attack, but he’s actually demanding to be picked up and cuddled. We’ve had to explain his volume to most tradies and visitors over the last 14 years and two door knockers have responded to his ‘screaming’ by saying they’ll let me deal with the cat. He’s white and compensated for his hearing issues by being the loudest cat I’ve ever met, his purrs can frequently be heard from the next room, so at least he’s not just a shouty baby.

1

u/Dezeyne 15h ago

We had a solar guy come to the door at 8pm once when I had just gotten by one year old down for bed. Ringing the doorbell set the dogs off to bark like crazy. I lost it on the dude - who on earth is trying to sell stuff in the evening like that!?!

0

u/PistolofPete 23h ago

Annoying. Do you have a no trespassing / no soliciting sign?

0

u/acidphosphate69 17h ago

All the folks giving you shit over the tape are dinks. Was it jobsite worthy? Not really but you're likely not a professional painter and likely didn't expect somebody at the door at fucking 8pm.

And any person with more observation skills than a large rock should be able to see the tape and paint can and at least suspect it means something. 

-3

u/Strange_Motor 23h ago

you're not in the wrong - the salesman was an idiot and obviously saw it as he stepped diligently over it to ruin the paint job. You did well - people are braindead.

10

u/Boxing_joshing111 23h ago

Whoever painted it probably just wanted to remind family members etc they didn’t expect some dumbass stranger trying to shill.

85

u/sonofaresiii 1d ago

It also wasn't actually even blocking the part that's wet, or at least not all of it. I would not consider it a barrier to fresh paint if it's strung up halfway through the fresh paint

Also honestly, op, like 

Put a sign up

I'm sorry this happened to you but you were a little rude to the guy, you put so much time and effort in but couldn't spend more than the seconds planning how to keep people off the wet paint?

79

u/michael22117 1d ago

DTD salesmen can go fuck themselves. their entire job is being a pain in the dick

26

u/HonkHonkBeach 23h ago

Phone cold callers too

13

u/HitMePat 23h ago

Yeah this. My wife always scolds me for being rude to them, but my standard response is to open the door and not let them get a word out. I just say "Not interested, please leave" then shut the door before they react. We get so many solar salesmen it's insane. If one came to my house at 8pm I'd probably drop the "please".

5

u/michael22117 23h ago

I'm not saying they'd deserve it, but if someone knocked on my door that late trying to pitch me a product, i'm immediately assuming something's up and that's not really the reason they're there.

Given that, I wouldn't be surprised if some people reacted a little more harshly

3

u/Dramatic_Airline84 20h ago

Door camera and intercom.

"GTF off my property. This conversation ends. Now."

Your "please leave" is extremely polite.

-4

u/Apollo64 23h ago

But unfortunately, they exist and should be planned for.

Not once in my life have I gotten a piece of mail in my mailbox that I actually care about or want, but I’m still shoveling a path for the mailman because he’s gonna come regardless.

13

u/kechones 23h ago

The difference is that I need some mail, but I never need a door-to-door salesman.

2

u/Apollo64 23h ago

Mailman may have struck a nerve here, my point was that they have to plan for other people approaching their home regardless of what they’re there for.

Could have been mail, fedex, ups, mailman, a neighbor in need. It just happens in this case it was a door-to-door dude.

12

u/No-Cake-5683 23h ago

Lol, a mailman is not a door to door salesman

2

u/Apollo64 23h ago

My point was to plan for people to walk up to your house, regardless of purpose.

2

u/No-Cake-5683 23h ago

Counterpoint, make it difficult for people to walk up to your house so only those with a reason for doing so will try

3

u/bong_residue 23h ago

The plan is to see that they are door to door salesmen and then close the door on them.

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u/BGYP 1d ago

As a woman I would have responded even worse to this man and my stairs aren’t painted. Who does he think he is knocking on doors at 8pm? That’s what sketchy people do. I’d absolutely yell at him too. 

16

u/BulkheadRed 23h ago

I never even answer for these assholes but I just knew he was stepping on my paint job so thats why I even opened the door.

2

u/fat-load-of-cum-then 23h ago

You sound like my mom. No disrespect intended lol. It’s a compliment.

-1

u/trekqueen 23h ago

Another worst offense a salesman can do to a woman is waking the baby during nap time. I had a sign and everything but nooooo his need to ruin my day was apparently more important.

17

u/kechones 23h ago

There’s no such thing as being rude to a door-to-door salesman. That man is inflicting himself upon people’s lives and property for no good reason. And at 8PM?

3

u/NoFewSatan 19h ago

What the fuck is wrong with you people 

4

u/iwenttothesea 23h ago

Man, have you heard about the job market lately? We are all still human beings, and you don't know this dude's story or why he's having to work a door to door job (which, let's be real, is no one's first choice - and unfortunately a lot of solicitation happens in the evenings because people are generally home at that time). I'm not saying he was in the right in the situation, as he clearly should have been more conscientious, but to say that there's no such thing as being rude to a door to door salesman is just mean. We can all stand to be a little nicer to each other in this day and age.

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u/OkSurround5940 23h ago

Why should they have to put a sign up on their porch when they’re not expecting anybody?

17

u/Shackdaddy161 23h ago

Yes let's keep making excuses for idiots so society keeps making more... excellence will follow.

8

u/Worried_Artichoke221 23h ago

random strangers shouldn’t be approaching peoples doors in the middle of the night

11

u/No-Cake-5683 23h ago

Lol, she was rude. Good!

12

u/SinnaBuns666 Spooky 23h ago

imo, stop knocking on doors, anything important can be called about; my steps are not for you (especially if you don't know me). Also, it's 8pm go the fuck home.

10

u/PugGrumbles 23h ago

Oh no. She was rude to a door to door salesman on her front step at 8 at night. Oh no.

Please. Stop telling women to be nicer, it's ridiculous.

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u/majinspy 21h ago

Jfc this is sexism now? I think everyone should be nicer. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. You making it sexism is absurd.

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u/teffz28 23h ago

Found the salty door to door salesman lmfao

2

u/swissjackSD 6h ago

yeah, to her "it's clearly taped there"

it's really not!

8

u/stonecuttercolorado 1d ago

It is incredibly obvious he specifically stepped over that.

All to scam OP

0

u/Adorable-Bass-7742 23h ago

Yeah it looks like just a reminder to family. So that's when somebody comes home, it doesn't slip their mind and walk on it.

They probably were not expecting guests.
Reminds me of what my uncle says, if you had time to half ass it, you had time to do it right

3

u/Comprehensive_Toe538 23h ago

Thats not half assing it. Assuming the family knows its fresh paint you dont expect some doofus to come to the house at night and fuck it up.

-1

u/Adorable-Bass-7742 23h ago

Half glass empty, half glass full. With experience comes a different perspective . I've painted well over a dozen decks during my time as a handyman. Ya learn after the very first one that humans, are stupid. If you don't do everything in your power to block the path, someone will walk on it. To me? anything less than setting up a barricade around it is half-assing it. But my original comment to come off a little bit unkind.

Are very distinctly remember one time, at the Bleckley Street house, some punk kicked the door open and they walked in, right after I finished painting the porch, packed up and left. The porch was screened in and locked as well as the main door. Neither one stood up to a hoodligan. it was quite the mess.

-1

u/Internal_Owl463 16h ago

And OP had the audacity to call this man dumb after they decided to protect 20 hours of work with a bit of tape 5cm off the ground.