When it comes to inviting a stranger into your house , there’s always a bit of a risk. That risk becomes even greater if you’re a woman, and especially if you live alone.
For one TikTok user, safety is key. And in a video, she shows off six tips on how you can keep yourself safe when a maintenance worker comes in your house.
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“Maintenance men are coming to work on my house while I’m home alone.”
The video, posted by Nichole Pagano ( @nicholepagano ) shows “how I prep my house for strangers as a woman.” She then proceeds to list different safety tips she has adopted for when the need arises.
“STEP 1: Outfit that isn’t ‘revealing.'”
She shows off a normal outfit, including leggings and a hoodie. She also captions the image with “Cue eye roll,” to show how annoying it is that she needs to watch out for the way she dresses.
“STEP 2: Hide valuables and electronics out of sight.”
This is another pretty good tip. You never know when someone might decide to slip a small valuable in their pocket on the way out, and you don’t need someone you don’t know going through your bag.
“STEP 3: Set out a pair of men’s boots to establish that a man lives here.”
The sad thing is, if a man wants to try something, he’ll back off if he knows there’s boyfriend/partner in the picture. Cue another eyeroll.
“STEP 4: Open a window for an easy escape option.”
Pagano shows an open window on the ground level here. Of course, this kind of thing wouldn’t be possible if you lived in, say, a high rise or something.
“STEP 5: Some sort of protectant (taser, pepper spray, hornet spray, pocket knife).”
“Also fun fact hornet spray can spray over 10ft and is just as potent as pepper/bear spray.”
That’s good to know, both in case of hornets and dangerous people.
“STEP 6: A dog whose bark sounds like a killer.”
She also writes, “I also forgot to add that my location on my phone is shared with my fiancé and family and keep my phone on me at all times.”
Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of debate in the comments.
Many were pretty thankful for the helpful tips.
One commenter wrote, “My husband being a contractor is always so respectful and professional but people ruin reputations so easily, it’s sad we have to prepare this way.”
Of course, not everyone thought that this kind of video was needed.
Some in the comments didn’t think all these precautions were necessary.
“I… have literally no fear of this and I don’t think that’s a good thing…” one person commented.
But… it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“All it takes is one bad situation and trust me you’ll never forget to do this,” Pagano said in a reply.
Of course, not every maintenance worker is evil (in fact, most are professional and considerate). But you really never know who could be dangerous, especially as a woman.
What do you think? Is she right to prepare like this, or is she being overly cautious? Let us know in the comments!
