# The Door to Certain Death **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617 "2004-10-05T07:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/21 "2004-10-05T14:26:31Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > They warned him, he didn’t heed the warning. If your brother isn’t able to supervise himself, and YOU weren’t able to do it either, maybe you shouldn’t have been away from your mom then. This isn’t fair. Having an unsafe condition like that is negligence, plain and simple. It’s easy to forget a warning like that, has **START** ’s brother evidently did. I agree that **START** ’s motives for seeking pain and suffering are lame, though. The world shouldn’t be his cash cow, but people shouldn’t invite people over when they know their home is unsafe (and if her husband, who presumably lives there, almost fell out of it, then they should have known it was unsafe). ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/22 "2004-10-05T14:29:49Z")
> [@START](#): > > I have no say but I wanted to say “Uh mom were kind of on the poor side…Do the words pain and suffering mean anything to you?” I wish your brother a speedy recovery, but y’know, I see your mother’s point. Do the words “friend” and “accident” mean anything to _you_? Your mother’s friend probably has insurance, so let the insurance company handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/23 "2004-10-05T14:39:26Z")
[QUOTE=Futile Gesture] In which case he would have walked out into thin air, turned around, gulpled, looked down, pedalled his feet frantically while reaching out to the doorway, fallen, and kicked up a little puff of smoke when he hit the ground. [QUOTE] You’re forgetting the most important part: his having just enough time to hold up a sign that says “Eep!” (In any event, I hope your brother gets nothing resembling money for “pain and suffering”. What the hell? He was warned. At most make the lady pay for some of the medical expenses. And don’t make her use homeowner’s - it’d cause her rates to increase. It’s really not _her_ fault your brother can’t follow directions.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/24 "2004-10-05T14:40:05Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > It’s not like these people pushed him out of the door. They warned him, he didn’t heed the warning. If your brother isn’t able to supervise himself, and YOU weren’t able to do it either, maybe you shouldn’t have been away from your mom then. Before I decide one way or the other, I’d like to ask **START** a few questions. We’re all dealing with too little information, and passing snap judgements in spite of that. When she said “Don’t use that door”, was it “Could you use the front door today?”, or was it “The stairs are out, that door is a giant death trap, if you use it you’ll die”? How often are you and your brother over there? Is it a door that you normally use anyway? Were you skulking about like theives in the night, or do you normally have run of the house? Was this at night or in the day? Was the entire structure gone, or was the frame still there? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/25 "2004-10-05T14:43:17Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > When she said “Don’t use that door”, was it “Could you use the front door today?”, or was it “The stairs are out, that door is a giant death trap, if you use it you’ll die”? I like your other questions, but I don’t think this one is relevant. If she knew the door was dangerous, it’s her responsibility to make it not dangerous. This is as easy and simple as locking it, nailing it shut, etc. To not have done so is negligence. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/26 "2004-10-05T14:46:20Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I like your other questions, but I don’t think this one is relevant. > > If she knew the door was dangerous, it’s her responsibility to make it not dangerous. This is as easy and simple as locking it, nailing it shut, etc. To not have done so is negligence. I don’t know if it was her responsibility to board it up and block it off with police tape and put a trampoline outside, but one has to wonder what the purpose was in leaving unlocked. Was she expecting company to come in that way? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/27 "2004-10-05T14:48:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t know if it was her responsibility to board it up and block it off with police tape and put a trampoline outside, but one has to wonder what the purpose was in leaving unlocked. Was she expecting company to come in that way? I should have stuck an “or” in there: lock it, _or_ nail it shut, etc. The point being: if it didn’t have a lock, or for some reason couldn’t be locked, a couple of nails woulda done the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/28 "2004-10-05T14:49:46Z")
Just to try and add a little levity to this thread… My uncle bought a ramshackle old building, which he was converting into holiday cottages, and which featured just such a Door Of Certain Death[sup]TM[/sup], but on the second floor. He pinned a sign on the inside reading “Complaints Department”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/29 "2004-10-05T14:51:47Z")
In re-reading the OP one question was cleared up. This was not a case of the brother skulking around a stranger’s home uninvited, randomly trying doors to see what would happen. This was a main entrance in a friend’s home, one that he was in the habit of using. It was the front door. You can’t expect people to always remember not to use the front door. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/30 "2004-10-05T15:04:45Z")
On the other hand (how many hands are we on now?), how’s your brother doing? Home from the hosp.? Decent pain meds? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/31 "2004-10-05T15:06:36Z")
While I wish the OP’s brother a speedy recovery I hate this “Someone Must PAY!!!” attitude. If I were dumb enough to walk out of a door into nowhere, that I had specifically been warned about, I would thank my stars that I was still alive, not start plotting how to wring some money out of a family friend. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/32 "2004-10-05T15:12:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > In re-reading the OP one question was cleared up. This was not a case of the brother skulking around a stranger’s home uninvited, randomly trying doors to see what would happen. This was a main entrance in a friend’s home, one that he was in the habit of using. It was the front door. You can’t expect people to always remember not to use the front door. “We went to my mother’s friend’s house Sunday afternoon and they have a **side door** …”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/33 "2004-10-05T15:13:56Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I should have stuck an “or” in there: lock it, _or_ nail it shut, etc. > > The point being: if it didn’t have a lock, or for some reason couldn’t be locked, a couple of nails woulda done the trick. I keep trying to picture the situation, and all I can come up with is the front door of my parent’s old house. It locked from the inside, with a simple button lock. Merely turning the knob would unlock it. And it was metal. It couldn’t easily be nailed shut. And we always used the garage door, so it never occured to us to use the front door. Guests, of course, didn’t know to comply with this habit, and often upon leaving, were more occupied with saying goodbye than speculating if they would fall to their deaths. I suppose removing the inside doorknob would have been a good solution. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/34 "2004-10-05T15:16:42Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > “We went to my mother’s friend’s house Sunday afternoon and they have a **side door** …”. Sure, but… > [@](#): > > , but in order to get in this door you had to walk up some stairs that were outside and when you opened it you would be inside right in between the upper story and lower story and obviously from there you could choose to walk upstairs or downstairs. So it may have been on the side, but it seems to function as the primary entrance. At least it may. **START** will have to clarify. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/35 "2004-10-05T15:28:32Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > “We went to my mother’s friend’s house Sunday afternoon and they have a **side door** …”. When we lived in Winnipeg, our house’s side door was the primary entrance. The front door was really only for company and we rarely used it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/36 "2004-10-05T15:38:19Z")
Interesting thing, we’ve just bought a house. It has a side door very similar to what the OP describes. (Of course, it also has a front door and a back door.) There’s no up or down stairs choice at the side door, but it has no steps and is about 10 feet off the ground. (The property slopes down, and there is a garage basement in the rear.) Having never seen the house before, upon our first inspection, we noticed the door, of course, and asked about it. Long story short, there was a reason it was there. Once inside, we recognized the door right away as soon as we got to it. For one thing, it was on the same side inside that it was on outside. For another, the lady told us about it as we approached the room it was in. Now, the OP says that he and his brother were “hanging out with her husband”. Is it plausible to you that her husband would have stood by and watched, saying nothing, as the boy approached, opened, and then walked through the door? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/37 "2004-10-05T15:44:26Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Now, the OP says that he and his brother were “hanging out with her husband”. Is it plausible to you that her husband would have stood by and watched, saying nothing, as the boy approached, opened, and then walked through the door? “Hanging out” is a colloquial expression–in this context, it merely means that him and his brother were spending time at the home of his mother’s friend. It doesn’t mean that the adult husband of his mother’s friend was supervising them full time, nor does it mean that they were suspended from a common apparatus together. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/38 "2004-10-05T15:50:29Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t know if it was her responsibility to board it up and block it off with police tape and put a trampoline outside, but one has to wonder what the purpose was in leaving unlocked. Was she expecting company to come in that way? Maybe she left it unlocked hoping that her husband would walk out of it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/39 "2004-10-05T15:52:47Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > While I wish the OP’s brother a speedy recovery I hate this “Someone Must PAY!!!” attitude. I don’t think anyone is saying “someone” must pay. The morons who invited people over to their unsafe house must pay for injuries caused by their negligence. You do not invite people over to your home if it is unsafe to be there. This isn’t a kid tripping over a step or falling out of a tree. This is someone opening and stepping out of what appeared to be a perfectly normal door, and falling 10 feet. I’m reminded of the Simpsons episode where Bart fell down a well. At the end, Groundskeeper Willie made the well “safe” by erecting a tiny sign 30 feet away. Signs and verbal warnings do not make unsafe conditions safe. Boards and nails do. Do you think these lazy fuckers have bothered to lock or board over the door yet? I’d bet against them. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617/40 "2004-10-05T15:55:01Z")
> [@DesertGeezer](#): > > Maybe she left it unlocked hoping that her husband would walk out of it. 😃 That makes no sense. If that were the case, then **START** would have made mention of crocodiles in the moat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-door-to-certain-death/267617.md?page=3)