File under "keep Austin weird"?
This happened to me a week ago.
The doorbell rang. I opened the door, expecting UPS, but the visitor was some random college-aged guy. "Where do you want us to set up?" he asked.
"What?" I said.
"Strippers. Where do you want us to set up?"
"WHAT?"
"Strippers," he said in a low conspiratorial voice. "You booked strippers, right?"
I stared at him. But before I could say he got the wrong apartment, he said: "Just kidding. I'm your new neighbor. I'm going around meeting my neighbors. I'm supposed to meet fifty a day. So, it's nice to meet you!"
"Umm, nice to meet you," I said, still not sure if this was some joke, a scam, or what.
"By the way, I'm not a very good talker," he added somewhat shyly.
I wouldn't have guessed he wasn't a good talker, given the nerve of his opening line. And why is he supposed to meet fifty neighbors a day? I wondered for a second if he was doing some kind of self-help exercise -- becoming more outgoing by talking to X number of strangers every day? Then a darker thought crossed my mind. Maybe he was "casing the joint"? Checking the times people were at home, and how many locks they opened before opened the door? Gathering intelligence before burglarizing apartments?
I asked which apartment he lived in. He said he didn't really lived here, but his parents did. He was just visiting. He goes to school in Oklahoma. This sudden change of story made me even more suspicious, though maybe it could have been perceived as a mere clarification. "I'm your new neighbor" could be a shorthand for "I'm your neighbors' son, temporarily visiting". Still I asked him which apartment his parents lived in. He told me the number. I said I was going to check with the apartment office, since his story looked suspicious to me.
"Suspicious? Where are you from?" he asked with mild indignation, implying that I must be from soxome weird place where neighborly friendliness is perceived with suspicion.
"I live here," I said, without going into details of my history.
"Talking to your neighbors is suspicious?" he shrugged.
I said again that I was going to check his story with the apartment management.
"No problem," he said. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Have a good day."
"You too," I said and closed the door. Immediately I heard him knock on my neighbors' door. I wondered if he was going to pull the stripper prank on them too, which might have gone over even worse, since they are a family with young children. I don't know if he adjusts his introductory question according to his target's demographic, but then again I'm also not in the segment of population that books strippers.
This was last Monday. I didn't report him to the apartment management, because in retrospective this encounter seemed more silly than suspicious. Though I have to say, some late nights when Erika and I are alone here, it becomes uncomfortable to ponder what kind of characters may be prowling in this apartment complex.
The doorbell rang. I opened the door, expecting UPS, but the visitor was some random college-aged guy. "Where do you want us to set up?" he asked.
"What?" I said.
"Strippers. Where do you want us to set up?"
"WHAT?"
"Strippers," he said in a low conspiratorial voice. "You booked strippers, right?"
I stared at him. But before I could say he got the wrong apartment, he said: "Just kidding. I'm your new neighbor. I'm going around meeting my neighbors. I'm supposed to meet fifty a day. So, it's nice to meet you!"
"Umm, nice to meet you," I said, still not sure if this was some joke, a scam, or what.
"By the way, I'm not a very good talker," he added somewhat shyly.
I wouldn't have guessed he wasn't a good talker, given the nerve of his opening line. And why is he supposed to meet fifty neighbors a day? I wondered for a second if he was doing some kind of self-help exercise -- becoming more outgoing by talking to X number of strangers every day? Then a darker thought crossed my mind. Maybe he was "casing the joint"? Checking the times people were at home, and how many locks they opened before opened the door? Gathering intelligence before burglarizing apartments?
I asked which apartment he lived in. He said he didn't really lived here, but his parents did. He was just visiting. He goes to school in Oklahoma. This sudden change of story made me even more suspicious, though maybe it could have been perceived as a mere clarification. "I'm your new neighbor" could be a shorthand for "I'm your neighbors' son, temporarily visiting". Still I asked him which apartment his parents lived in. He told me the number. I said I was going to check with the apartment office, since his story looked suspicious to me.
"Suspicious? Where are you from?" he asked with mild indignation, implying that I must be from soxome weird place where neighborly friendliness is perceived with suspicion.
"I live here," I said, without going into details of my history.
"Talking to your neighbors is suspicious?" he shrugged.
I said again that I was going to check his story with the apartment management.
"No problem," he said. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Have a good day."
"You too," I said and closed the door. Immediately I heard him knock on my neighbors' door. I wondered if he was going to pull the stripper prank on them too, which might have gone over even worse, since they are a family with young children. I don't know if he adjusts his introductory question according to his target's demographic, but then again I'm also not in the segment of population that books strippers.
This was last Monday. I didn't report him to the apartment management, because in retrospective this encounter seemed more silly than suspicious. Though I have to say, some late nights when Erika and I are alone here, it becomes uncomfortable to ponder what kind of characters may be prowling in this apartment complex.