Is that mysterious door-knocker a friendly face or a horror movie character?

You're sitting at home, relaxed, and someone knocks on your front door.

What do you do? Get up and answer it? Ignore it and hope it goes away?

How do you feel? Interested? Excited? Anxious? Terrified?

Well, based on a survey by the folks at YouGov, the older you are, the more curious you are and the more likely you are to answer the door. The younger you are, the more fearful and annoyed you are.

All because of someone knocking at your door.

It's a generational litmus test: Do you think it might be the late Ed McMahon or Dick Clark, bringing you an oversized check for winning the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes? Or do you think it's a horror movie character (a clown? Someone in a weird mask?), waiting to slash you open?

For many of us, the first reaction is confusion. Besides the occasional delivery person alerting you that they dropped something off, when does someone knock on our front door? When was the last time you surprised someone by knocking on their door? When was the last time someone surprisingly knocked on your door?

It rarely happens. The days of door-to-door salesmen are largely over. It's been a long time since a Jehovah's Witness knocked on my door. Neighborhood kids rarely sell candy or magazine subscriptions door to door, instead relying on their parents to do so. A knock on the door likely means Amazon or another delivery service dropped something off.

But . . .

The surprise door-knocker still brings some interest and warmth to those in the Silent Generation (born in 1928-1945). More than two-thirds (68%) of respondents from that generation say they'd answer the mysterious door knock and 51% say their reaction is curiosity. ("Oh, let me answer the door. It's probably the Avon lady," is my presumption.)

Compare that to Millennials (born 1981-1996) and members of Generation Z (born 1997 or later): Combined, those folks (44 years old and younger) are equally likely to ignore the surprised door-knocker as they are to answer the door. The youngest respondents are also the most fearful of the door knocker, perhaps conditioned by scary movies (or the anxiety that the person will actually be an Avon or Fuller Brush representative and the Gen Z person will have no idea what they are or how to get rid of them).

In musical terms, younger people are more Dave Edmunds ("I hear you knocking, but you can't come in. I hear you knocking, go back where you been.") than Tony Orlando and Dawn ("Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me."). That comparison largely slips past anyone born in 1981 or later, so it won't help.

Our reaction to a surprise visitor is likely a window into how we view society. As we become more reliant on technology and social media for interactions, actual person-to-person contact like someone knocking on our door becomes more irritating or scary.

It's not surprising that members of the oldest generation, who spent most of their life with the telephone being the only way you could "talk" to someone without being face-to-face, are still interested in who is at the door. It's not surprising that the youngest generations are more anxious and avoidant.

There's no right way to react to a surprise door knock, I guess. I just assume that it's a package that Mrs. Brad ordered through Amazon and ignore it.

Which is bad for the Avon Lady or the Fuller Brush salesman making their way through my neighborhood.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.