When Do You Call the Police For Help and What Do You Do If They Don’t Show Up in Time?

Are you prepared to defend yourself against an intruder?

Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash

I read Allison Cecile’s story, “I Woke Up at Midnight to the Sounds of a Zombie Pounding on My Front Door” and was reminded how helpless and scared one feels when threatened.

I was once woken up in the middle of the night by someone trying to get into my hotel room. I called out, “Wrong room!” but the person kept trying to open the door. Then my husband yelled, “What the fuck?” and the man finally stopped jiggling the doorknob. I looked in the peephole and saw him walking away, so I knew it was a man.

But even if I hadn’t looked in the peephole, I can’t imagine a woman continuing to jiggle the door handle even after someone yelled out “Wrong room!” The man only stopped when he heard my husband’s voice. It’s like my voice didn’t register at all. I shudder to think how much longer he would have kept trying to open the door if I had been traveling alone on business.

I remember that fear of being jolted awake by the sound of someone trying to invade my personal space. I called the front desk to let them know but I never learned if they found him. At least in my case, the man left. For Allison and her husband, the man stayed until the…