Most people have been told at least once not to let strangers into their building, but most people do it anyway without a second thought.

In this story, a renter came home from work one day to find an unfamiliar teenager waiting outside her apartment building, claiming to be a neighbor that was locked out and expecting to be let in like it was already a done deal. She didn’t buy it.

When she refused and pulled the door shut behind her, the kid slammed on it and screamed profanity at her through the glass.

So the more she thought about it, the more his story really didn’t add up.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for not letting a kid who claimed to be locked out into my apartment building?

Today, as I got home from work, a kid I don’t recognize — about 13-14 years old — approached me as I walked up to my apartment building.

He asked me if I lived in the building and I said maybe.

He told me he locked himself out and his mom wasn’t home, and he was happy I showed up to let him in.

So she set a boundary with him to protect both herself and everyone else in the building.

I told him I don’t let anybody without keys who I don’t recognize into the building.

He asked me why, and I said it’s not safe — there’s a reason the apartment building is locked.

This kid then continued to behave incredibly suspiciously.

He then proceeded to follow me to the side door of the building, so I grabbed the door and pulled it shut behind me because he grabbed it and tried to tailgate me.

He pulled on the door but I was faster and got it to lock behind me.

It was clear this kid was bad news.

He slammed on the door with one of his fists and screamed “**** you,” and it scared me a little — even though he was young, he was almost as big as me.

I’m sure he would have been able to pull the door open from me if he was expecting me to shut it.

If he truly was locked out, she didn’t see any harm with him waiting outside.

It’s not too cold or hot outside — it’s gorgeous weather and there are several hours of sunlight left.

There’s a park with benches in the shade and mothers watching kids within sight line of the front door of the building, so he will have a safe place to be.

Again, he looked like a young teenager, not a little kid.

She continues to justify her logic.

There is a building buzzer in the front, so if he knows anyone in the building they can let him in even if his mom isn’t home.

I’ve never seen this kid a day before in my life, but I typically ignore the children who play outside because I find them annoying, so there’s a good chance I just don’t recognize him.

It’s a safe neighborhood, and most people who live here do unfortunately just hold the doors open for others without asking or seeing keys.

But there’s still a part of her that feels bad.

I feel guilty for not letting him in in case he was locked out and he’s just a kid, but at the same time I have a policy to not let strangers in the building for safety reasons, and he kind of scared me.

AITA for not letting him in?

With matters of personal safety, it’s best to follow your gut.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who had to find a creative way to communicate with her child’s school even though they refused to speak English.

What did Reddit have to say?

This kid has plenty of other options to get into the building.

This commenter thinks the woman could have offered to help the child more.

This kid’s excuses didn’t really stand up to much scrutiny.

It didn’t take the kid long to show his true colors.

As far as redditors are concerned, this woman didn’t do anything wrong. She followed a reasonable policy, explained herself calmly, and made a judgment call that any sensible person would make.

The moment that kid grabbed the door and tried to force his way through, he answered every question she was still asking herself. A teenager who is genuinely locked out doesn’t respond to a “no” by pounding on a door and screaming profanity at the person who refused

There’s a buzzer on the front of the building. There are neighbors who could help. There were options — and he skipped all of them to go straight to intimidation.

The door was locked for a reason, and he proved it.