#219 Building Trust in a Tech-Driven Neighborhood: The Power of Ring Cameras

Ever had a package disappear from your doorstep? It happened to me, which got me thinking about how we handle neighborly etiquette in today’s tech-driven world. With delivery drivers often skipping the doorbell, it’s easy to miss when a package arrives. I share a story about a mix-up with a package pickup and a simple solution: using the Ring camera’s recording feature to communicate intentions and avoid confusion. With tools like this, we can turn potential issues into chances to build trust and transparency with our neighbors.

Toward the end of the show, I talk about the edited audio versions of the podcast and the unedited versions available on YouTube. Whether you’re walking the dog or catching up on chores, the audio format is made to fit your day. Thank you for tuning in and for your feedback—it means a lot. I’m looking forward to our next conversation.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
okay, so my headphones on or my earbuds,
what do you want to call them?
So I want to talk about ringetiquette for just a second, a

(00:26):
little bit more than a second.
But I saw a UPS truck parkedacross the street last night
Someone's getting a package.
Didn't think much about it andso this morning I don't know why
I thought about it.
And so this morning I don'tknow why I thought about it, but

(00:50):
I thought I should check myring camera on my phone to see
if that was for us.
So I got on.
The ring app went to yesterdaynight.
Last evening about 5 o'clock,5.15, something like that.

(01:12):
Sure enough, ups guy had walkedup to our house and dropped off
a package and as he walked awayhe yelled out UPS dropped off a
package and as he walked awayhe yelled out ubs.
Now I'm not.
I wish they would ring thedoorbell.
So when and my ring did makeits little funny sound on my

(01:35):
phone, I just didn't pay anyattention to it because it goes
off so much anymore.
I just get tired of looking atit because it's usually nothing
more than a car going by orsomeone walking on the sidewalk.
So I didn't look.
It did go off yesterday and Ididn't pay attention to it.
So anyway, I just wish, uh, ifI was a UPS driver, I think I

(02:00):
would ring the doorbell just tomake sure everybody knows that
I'm there and that I left apackage.
Okay, even though Ring willnotify you if you have it set up
on your phone, which mostpeople do so when I ever get to
talk and I start yawning.

(02:20):
I don't know why that is so.
This morning I looked on thelike.
I said looked on ring, andthere was the eps driver leaving
a package.
Oh okay.
But I saw another motiondetection a little bit later.
Uh, so I looked at it and itwas about seven o'clock and it

(02:43):
was this lady walking up our uhsite not sidewalk, but up the uh
steps to our house.
She gets up to the porch, leansover, grabs the package,
doesn't grab it dummy, justpicks it up, turns around, walks

(03:03):
back down the steps and downthe sidewalk until it was out of
view from my camera.
So I'm instantly thinking thatwe just got ripped off, that the
porch pirate came.
Have no idea who this was,except when I got to looking at
it it looked like our neighbor.

(03:36):
Kind of not, but kind of so.
So here's the back story there.
So our neighbor has the UPS andthe post office have been
delivering a lot of her mail toour house with our address on
the envelopes or boxes.
Not sure how that happened, whythat's happening, but anyway.
So we take the envelopes orboxes not sure how that happened

(03:57):
, why that's happening, butanyway.
So we take the mail in theboxes and we go over to her
house and if she's not there,she we leave them in the mailbox
or on on the front steps there,and I guess I should be taking
my own advice here in just asecond.
So I guess that's what happenedthis time.
Uh ups came by, left a packageat our front door, thinking he

(04:21):
was delivering it to the rightplace based on the address.
I'm sure it was the rightaddress, but it was really meant
for our neighbor.
So anyway, that's how I'm surethey figured out.
Uh ups probably sent a pictureof the package being dropped off
as a matter of fact, I knowthey did, cause I saw him take a

(04:42):
picture on the video from ring.
Uh, they realized that that wastheir package.
Um came over, picked it up,walked away.
Okay, now here's what.
Here's the suggestion I want tomake to everyone out there with
a ring doorbell, if you'redoing a good deed, or if

(05:07):
something like that happened,where a package got delivered to
your neighbor's house and yourealize this is the case, go
over, pick up your package, goahead, because it's yours.
But also, either ring thedoorbell or, chances are, ring

(05:27):
is already recording you as youwalked up to the front of the
house, so you could just talk tothe ring device and say hey,
this is Scott, I had a packagedelivered to you guys by mistake
and I'm coming by to pick it up.
Um, have a great day.
Uh, call me if you needanything and then walk away

(05:50):
instead of.
And so when you don't do that,it kind of looks real suspicious
.
You know, and you're walking upto the house, you pick up the
package and you walk away, socovert.
Maybe some other neighbors areseeing what's going on and
they're thinking that you'retaking the other person's
package.
Is that getting confusing?
Anyway, that's what I would do,just, and so I'm suggesting to

(06:12):
everyone out there with the ringcamera if you go to somebody's
house, because you gotta.
Uh like, like one time aneighbor had their trash can out
.
They were on vacation and itdidn't get taken in.
So I walked over there and I uh, grabbed their trash can and
pulled it up to the house forhim.
What I should have done,because I know ring caught that

(06:34):
it was just hey, this Scott justwanted to, you know, give you a
helping hand while you're away,bringing up your trash can.
Mystery solved.
Chances are they would havefigured that out anyway, but it
clears everything up.
We've got to realize thesethings are recording and so use

(06:55):
this to our advantage tocommunicate with each other,
instead of thinking we're goingto sneak up, get our package
that's rightfully ours, and thenwalk away and hope nobody sees,
or hope I don't have to talk toanybody, just own it.
Just say, hey, this guy, I'mcoming, you know, all right,
your name.
Hey, I'm coming by to pick upthe package.
Don't want to bother you.

(07:17):
If you have any questions, callme, you know, anyway we'll see,
uh, see you later and walk away.
There you go.
So there's my suggestion, ring.
This is this is totallydifferent from a porch pirate.
We're not talking aboutstealing theft, we're not
talking about any of that kindof stuff.

(07:38):
We're just talking about if youcome up to a person's house
because Maybe you brought ashovel and you want to bring it
back and it doesn't look liketheir home.
So you just leave the shovel onthe front porch.
That's cool.
But chances are they have aring or some blink or something
and just say you don't even haveto ring the doorbell, or you

(08:02):
could, and then that would alertthem, wherever they are, that
you're on the front porchleaving a shovel or whatever,
and just talk to them and theymight want to talk back to you
because you can On your iPhoneor Android, I guess you can talk
to the person that's at yourfront door without coming to

(08:23):
your front door.
You can be halfway around theworld and still talk to them.
So anyway, just a littleetiquette there with the ring,
don't try to don't come.
If you come into somebody'shouse and don't say anything and
just kind of come up and goaway, looks very suspicious and
then on the person watching thevideo, like me this morning, it
just looks funny.

(08:44):
I don't know.
What are your thoughts?
What am I on track here?
Or Would you do what I amsuggesting we do?
Is it that big a deal?
Maybe it's not.
Anyway, leave your comments.
Leave a comment.
Send me an email, scott, it'sgot Townsend dot infofo.

(09:06):
Uh, subscribe like, share allthat stuff.
Um, yeah, so for scott townsend, no, not for scott townsend,
for you, and I'm not sure whatI'm trying to say anyway.
Oh, another thing I'm doing isI'm posting unedited videos.

(09:28):
Speaking of unedited, postingunedited videos to the YouTube
channel and then posting editedcontent on the Buzzsprout
podcast platform, which pushesthis podcast out to Apple,
spotify, wherever you get youriTunes, wherever you get your

(09:57):
podcasts.
So I'm going to post the editedversion there and then I'm
going to just let it all hangout on the video.
Um, because it takes a longtime to edit a video and I'm
kind of tired of that right now.
I might get back to it later,but anyway, I'm just going to
post it whatever.

(10:17):
Post all the flaws, mistakes,it's it.
I'm not trying to make itpretty, you know.
If you want to watch it, fine,if not, that's great.
But you know, most part I'mreally uh, doubling down on
people listening, you know,while you're walking your dog,
doing the dishes at the gym,driving On a walk, whatever.
I think this is the way to.

(10:39):
This is the more popular way todigest this show, as most
podcasts.
So, anyway, I hope you guyshave a great day.
Let me know what you thinkabout what we talked about today
.
This is Scott Townsend.
Thanks for listening to theScott Townsend Show.

(11:00):
Have a great day.
Everything's going to be allright and we'll talk to you
later, and I'm going to stoprecording.