Front doors used to be opened constantly. A knock or the sound of the doorbell did not bring dread. The phone was always answered, and no one worried that it might be a scam call.
These thoughts of my front door make me think of the television ad years ago, “Ding-dong! Avon calling!” The whole premise of the ad was the Avon lady would be coming to your house and ringing your doorbell.
I remember my mom sold Avon for a while. Christmas mornings, I usually received an Avon decanter of some type.
My wife also sold Avon while in high school. She told me she liked their products and was trying to make a little money — probably enough for whatever new Beatles album was coming out. She still sighs when she thinks of Paul.
You have to admit, some of those Avon decanters were cool. I can remember them coming in the shape of cars, trains, and yes, even in the form of guns! If Avon put out a pistol-shaped after-shave container today, that could start a national boycott.
Sorry, I got off the door hinges there. Our front doors used to be a gateway to a community. You may recall who came to your front door. It might have been the welcome wagon, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, Avon calling, neighbors and friends, band booster sales, kids selling candy bars, or community charity drives.
Each time the front door was opened, there was generally a smile waiting and a friendly air about the person waiting outside. But, unfortunately, with the changing times and the added assistance of the ongoing pandemic, most of us no longer want to open our front or back doors, for that matter. I understand, but in a sense, it saddens me.
I can’t remember opening my front door this past winter. We were all in our corners during COVID. Sorry to say, I sense much of this isolation will continue.
The last time my doorbell rang, my cats scattered. It was a couple guys working the block to get people to drop their trash hauler and to sign up with their company.
Many have new security doorbells with video and motion detection. My daughter has one and said "hello" to me when I stopped by to do some job. She was downtown at that moment. She told me her daughter always waves as she passes by the video doorbell.
My neighbor has her security doorbell hooked up to Echo with a screen, and she can say, “Alexa, show me the front door.”
I’m not sure if I will go down that route or not. Maybe, at some point. The more technology I have, the more that can go wrong that I may not figure out.
We need to maintain social contact. Keeping connected face to face with our neighbors and friends is essential. The more real-life social circles we have, the better for us.
There is much fear out there over many issues, particularly for our elderly. Unfortunately, they are being targeted, and more needs to be done about this.
Possibly in small towns across the country, the front door is still opened. Trust and kindheartedness remain. I miss that.
The front door issue is a tough call. There are many reasons to not open it. There are reasons to open it. If someone does come to my front door, I hope they will find it looking pretty snazzy with a fresh coat of paint — but I still need a little time for that.
Loren Else lives in Rochester and also writes the Post Bulletin’s “Day in History” column. Send comments and column ideas to Loren at news@postbulletin.com.
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June 29, 2021 at 09:33PM
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Front doors are no longer opened - PostBulletin.com
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