I'm generally not a nosy person, however my computer setup and one of my neighbour's are aligned in a way that I can catch a glance at his front door without really focusing on it.
Almost every day when I notice him coming home, presumably from work, before going inside he pulls out what looks like a folded sheet of A4 paper, posts it through his own letterbox, unlocks the door then goes inside.
The whole thing baffles me, but there often seems to be a niche reason for stuff like this, and although I don't know him that well, he is otherwise a normal, sane person and I'm sure there must be a legitimate reason. I know he lives alone and doesn't have any pets.
I didn't want to ask him since I don't want to appear creepy or act like I'm stalking him or something, I am just curious if anyone would know a reason why anyone would do this every time they arrive home?
EDIT: Curiousity got the better of me, so I dedicated my otherwise uneventful friday evening to catch up with him and ask. Not only was the attempt successful, but I caught him during the act itself so I was able to slip the question casually without looking like a snooping weirdo.
He told me he writes reminders to himself for the next day, related to "the needs of his clients" (One can only wonder) and he says the notes can't be missed that way as they are right at the door, and just like regular mail anyone would always go to check it.
That only begs the question why he decides to post them through his letter box first, instead of just leaving them at the door or something similar, which I probably should have asked but I was feeling a mixture of confusion, astonishment and relief that he wasn't doing it to test grenade traps like someone suggested. Perhaps it's a memory assocation thing, who knows.
I hope anyone here is sad enough to find this story as interesting and climatic as I did. Off to grab a beer or 3 now and think about today.
41 comments
Perhaps he’s a postman and has trouble switching off after work.
Where does he pull the paper from?
Edit: my guess. He has booby trapped the entrance and this is how it’s disarmed. If you look up do you see a suspended piano?
It could be the only mail he gets.
Maybe he has a dog and is training it not to eat the newspaper as it comes through the door by treating it when it doesn’t shred the paper?
Cat or dog sleeps on the mat?
Doesn’t want to open the door on to them (maybe even a bit deaf) so he posts a warning through the door.
I like to think on it, there are cut outs from a newspaper which say “gET Off THe fUCking Mat”
OCD
He could just be stark raving mad.
It is a lot more common than a lot of people realise.
Best I can think of is someone paranoid about security. The paper hangs loose through the inside of the letterbox all night, but if someone tries to reach through/use a wire then the paper falls, like a hair balanced on a door. I’m not convinced though.
Sounds like OCD, or someone worried that Theres a grenade trip wire type situation awaiting him. My brother is sectioned and has all sorts of bizarre rituals very similar to this.
Whatever the exact reason, Im almost certain it’s metal health related rather than practical/mechanical/administrative.
he may seem quite sane because he is sane but he might have OCD and this could be one of his ticks.
Most people get the meaning of OCD wrong. For people who have it, it is very real indeed that if they don’t follow a certain pattern, bad things will happen to them or their loved ones. There’s often counting involved but not always. This could have been a thing he picked up when quite young and it’s hard for him to stop doing it.
what’s he building in there..? he has no dog … he has no friends …… and his lawn is dying. and what about all those sheets of paper he sends. what’s he building in there ?!
Is it to keep the dog occupied while he gets through the door
Does he leave what looks like the paper there in the letterbox or does it fall to the bottom of the floor?
I lived next to a guy once who had a thick piece of card in his letterbox some days. I couldn’t work out why, then when I met my now wife, she said it’s because he works nights – so he didn’t get woken up by people using the letterbox whilst he was sleeping upstairs during the day.
Apparently some people use a towel for the same reason.
Is your neighbour Mr. Bean?
Probably ocd, i used to have a neighbour that would take him ages to get out of his front door doing his rituals. He would have to put the key in/out about ten times, tap on the door handle the same amount of times. Walk a certain way down the steps. If he messed it up he would start all over again.
Maybe he’s training his dog to stop being scared of the mail
Could be an arrangement he has with the assassin he’s hired to test him. The paper says “not today, mate”
Does he have any pets? Pets can be entertained by crazy things. He may have a dog or a cat that loves grabbing things through the letterbox and playing with them. Posting a sheet of paper (firmer and easier to post when folded in half) to entertain the pets is probably most convenient when he gets home and the door is already unlocked.
there was a guy i knew who set up a schedule to text himself with the words be legendary every day
Does he have a dog? It could be something to wind the dog up with or even training to not attack post?
Maybe he is pushing the mail through
My letter box has very thick brushes on it. It takes some effort to push letters through
Sometimes, I miss letters if there is only one, as it ends up crumpled in the letterbox and doesn’t stick out, so I don’t see it
So, he could be trying to poke mail through or loosen up the brushes
He might have some paranoia about some trap/b0mb/incendiary device triggered by the door in some way so this helps him feel safe
He has a deaf wife, and he posts this through the door with the password written on it so that she takes the chain off the door?
it’s to deactivate the booby trap
He’s a postie and he delivers his own mail, legally has to put it through his letterbox or get disciplined.
It’s not this.
He’s realised that one of his neighbours is incredibly nosy, to the extent that they watch him coming home every day, so has decided to do something unusual to mess with their head
its tradecraft, he is waiting for you to creep over and fish the paper out, it will read; “i know your watching me”
Hey OP. Four likely reasons:
– He has OCD and this is one of his coping mechanisms
– He’s training/reassuring a dog so it doesn’t shred post
– He knows your watching him and he’s messing with you
– He’s fucking mental
He lives alone and doesn’t have pets, so maybe it’s like Mr.Bean or the average Redditor where he posts himself things due to a lack of friends.
It’s to give his nosy neighbour something to talk about.
He’ll change it to a banana at some point
Push another piece of paper through the door before he arrives home.
I‘m having trouble figuring out why this is any concern of yours.
Maybe he’s severed and leaving a note for his outie?
It’s entirely possible to have obsessive compulsive behaviours which are focussed on one specific thing and have no effect on other areas of life.
It’s also possible to have mainly internal ocd behaviours, which don’t give any outward sign.
Maybe he’s checking for post that’s stuck in the letterbox
He is a spy.
He knows The Silence are in his house.
Either your neighbour is a twin or the person is him from the future sending himself covert messages to try and avoid breaking the rules of time travel?
Does he have mud boots? Posts paper through door, steps on paper, removes boots, bins paper. No muddy matt.
My parents did used to post letter to themselves, but that was because their house was a bit isolated and they needed the postman to turn up each day in case they needed to jump-start their car from his van.
He possibly has ADHD. It can absolutely cripple your short term memory. But, as he said, that’s a way to get a reminder in a place where he’s guaranteed to check it.