# Stranger knocked on door, asked for ketchup **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065 "2014-11-08T15:16:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/21 "2014-11-08T23:09:22Z")
Has a kid who won’t take her nap until she eats her fries and won’t eat her fries without ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/22 "2014-11-08T23:33:00Z")
i’ve only been asked for GP. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/23 "2014-11-08T23:56:39Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > i’ve only been asked for GP. Or as all the cool, hip kids call it, “Gimme Sum Grey Poup, yo!” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/24 "2014-11-09T04:19:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The OP has never had a neighbor ask for something or needed to borrow a tool? > > That’s what neighbors are for where I live. Someone baking a cake needs a couple eggs, or a cup of sugar. It’s no big deal. I get requests from neighbors a couple times a year. I don’t give it a second thought. Its always during the day and I can see who’s at the door before opening it. > > I guess depending on where you live its dangerous to actually talk to your neighbors. Wouldn’t a neighbor have identified herself, though? Especially if somebody unfamiliar opened the door? Something along the lines of, “O hai, is **carlotta** home? I’m her neighbor from two houses down.” It seems more like a strange woman (stranger to **carlotta** , that is) rather than a neighbor asking for a favor. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/25 "2014-11-09T04:25:43Z")
Maybe it was just someone who _really_ doesn’t understand how trick-or-treating works. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/26 "2014-11-09T05:04:02Z")
One time in my sister’s apartment a female stranger came to the door and seemed to be obliquely offering sex acts to me for $20 bucks. That was wayyy stranger. (she was apparently well known for this) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/27 "2014-11-09T05:16:09Z")
> [@grude](#): > > One time in my sister’s apartment a female stranger came to the door and seemed to be obliquely offering sex acts to me for $20 bucks. > > That was wayyy stranger. > > (she was apparently well known for this) Perhaps she’s bipolar. Did she seem manic? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/28 "2014-11-09T05:35:54Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Perhaps she’s bipolar. Did she seem manic? Or did she seem prostituty? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/29 "2014-11-09T05:55:28Z")
She’ll be back, having found an easy ketchup score. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/30 "2014-11-09T05:58:08Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Luckily for me, the most valuable thing _in_ my house is the ketchup. Haha, yes. Although I do also possess some salt - there is that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/31 "2014-11-09T06:20:13Z")
> [@grude](#): > > One time in my sister’s apartment a female stranger came to the door and seemed to be obliquely offering sex acts to me for $20 bucks. > > That was wayyy stranger. > > (she was apparently well known for this) Money well spent? Don’t leave us hangin. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/32 "2014-11-09T06:45:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Money well spent? Don’t leave us hangin. There is no good story here, my sister was just inside on the couch with her kids. When she came to the door the woman just asked for twenty bux and my sis said get lost. Found out later she did it to everyone, if a male above 15 came to the door an offer of trade, if a woman gimme money. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/33 "2014-11-09T10:14:46Z")
She’s probably wondering about the weird neighbors who just happen to have condiment containers. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/34 "2014-11-09T10:18:06Z")
Wait I just noticed she knocked on your back door? Do you have a fence? Cuz whether you do or not that is just plain odd there, I am agreeing with you on the burglar checking locks theory. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/35 "2014-11-09T12:42:42Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Or did she seem prostituty? Ah, yes. Must be one of those door-to-door whores we hear so much about. Of course she was a prostitute. The question is why she would be stupid enough to go knocking at random doors, to the point that neighbors actually recognize her. Unless **grude** ’s sister lives somewhere where prostitution isn’t illegal, you’d need to be mentally ill or inebriated to think that was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/36 "2014-11-09T12:55:06Z")
> [@grude](#): > > There is no good story here, my sister was just inside on the couch with her kids. When she came to the door the woman just asked for twenty bux and my sis said get lost. Found out later she did it to everyone, if a male above 15 came to the door an offer of trade, if a woman gimme money. Ah, so not a prostitute, just a druggie or homeless person wanting a fix. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/37 "2014-11-09T13:39:27Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Wait I just noticed she knocked on your back door? Do you have a fence? Cuz whether you do or not that is just plain odd there, I am agreeing with you on the burglar checking locks theory. It’s not that odd. I live on a corner, so my back door is quite visible and accessible to the street on the side of my house. Also no fence. Lots of people come to my back door. The back door is mostly glass and is right next to a large window and opens directly into the kitchen. Which all speaks against the burglar theory, because it should be pretty visible from outside whether people are inside or not (my parents had been milling around the kitchen. ) So someone checking the lock could probably reverse course before the need to resort to cover stories about condiments. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/38 "2014-11-09T15:03:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Ah, so not a prostitute, just a druggie or homeless person wanting a fix. And willing to blow someone for the money. Y’know… like a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/39 "2014-11-09T15:20:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Ah, yes. Must be one of those door-to-door whores we hear so much about. _Ding-dong_ “It’s Yvonne calling…!” :smack: =d&r= ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065/40 "2014-11-09T15:40:55Z")
I live in an apartment building. I’ve had several instances where a neighbor, known or unknown, has come to the door to ask for some simple ingredient, discovered to be exhausted while preparing a meal. I find nothing odd about it and I’ve done it myself, but I think I’ve always gone to someone I knew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stranger-knocked-on-door-asked-for-ketchup/704065.md?page=3)