5. Write about a solicitor encounter at your front door.
If Jesus is punking me, He does it in the form of sending solicitors to my door repeatedly. I’ve mentioned before how these people drive me crazy. I was tricked into letting them in once when I agreed to accept a free knife set and Pat let them in a second time for a free carpet cleaning demonstration and they do. not. leave. One solicitor even put his foot in front of my door to block me from shutting it and yet another kept referring to Pat as “Mr. Lucky”…I bought a magazine subscription from that guy and it never arrived.
Now when they come to the door I’m like “Nope, SCRAM!”
On Super Bowl Sunday a gal came to the house in Seahawks gear and was all, “Hey I’m a Hawk fan too and can’t wait to get home to watch the game today. Here’s a free Seahawks key chain because Go Hawks! Can I come in and clean your carpet with this brand-new Kirby?”
And I was all, “Mmmm…thanks but no.”
And she was all, “You mean yes right?”
And I was all, “I actually despise Kirby because in the past we have let people in and they just don’t take no for an answer. It’s really hard to get them to leave at that point.”
And she was all, “But I can come in right?”
And I was all, “See what you’re doing right there? You’ve been trained well, but please go away.”
And then she TOOK THE KEY CHAIN BACK.
One week later there was a knock at the door. Instead of answering it like an adult, I ducked down in front of it to wait for the stranger to leave. My dogs were barking like crazy and the stranger KEPT knocking. I was sure it was the vacuum people again so I stayed in the squatting position as beads of sweat formed upon my brow.
My heart was racing only to find out later the people knocking on my door were neighbor kids who had gotten locked out of their house and needed a place to stay.
Do you SEE what the vacuum people have done to me?
I apologized to them and explained that I had waited for them to leave because I thought they were with Kirby and they were all, “We stood at your door for a really long time…like 15 minutes. Were you crouched inside that whole time?”
They got a good laugh out of that but then informed me that the same Seahawk vacuum lady had been to their house and the neighborhood watch reported her. She wasn’t even WITH Kirby. She was part of a robber ring that scopes out houses and comes back to steal things. Allegedly.
I feel super safe.
I wish I could end my story there, but ANOTHER vacuum guy came over this past weekend and he was all, “boy it’s raining like crazy. I would love to come in out of this rain and clean a room for you!”
And I was all, “Mmmm…thanks but no.”
And he was all, “If I clean 10 rooms I win a trip to Kauai!”
And I was all, “Yeah I don’t care.”
And he was all, “We’re friendly and just want to do a nice deed for you!”
And I was all, “Did you know there are people posing as vacuum salespeople but are actually scoping out the houses to steal things? Our entire neighborhood is on alert.”
And he was all, “What!?! Well, that sure makes my honest job hard to do! Hahaha!”
And I was all, “Yeah, so you might want to go to a different neighborhood since we’re ALL onto you.”
And he was all, “That’s really messed up…but can I clean one room?”
Damn tricky salespeople. They got me once…they’re not getting me again!
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1. Write about a moment in an awards show on TV that impacted you in some way.
2. Tell us about a habit or trait your spouse would love to see improved in you.
3. List your five most recent favorite things.
4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: share.
5. Write about a solicitor encounter at your front door.
John Holton says
I don’t blame you one bit. Mary asks who it is through the closed front door, and if it’s a salesperson, she tells them “no thank you” and ignores anything else the person has to say. Hey, we’re two older people and I’m handicapped. The last thing we need is for someone to come in and rob us, or worse… Aetna (our Medicare insurance company) calls us eery year wanting to make a “home health visit,” and we always say no. God knows who you’d be letting in…
I was in a hotel in Detroit once. There was a knock at the door, I asked who it was, and the voice said “room service.” I hadn’t ordered anything and looked through the peephole and saw two kids who obviously didn’t work for the hotel. I called the desk and told them to send security up. They left by the time someone got there, but it taught me to keep the door locked whenever I’m in a hotel.
I’m surprised there are still companies that still have door-to-door salespeople. Even Avon and Fuller Brush leave a catalog and have a website.
Mama Kat says
I’m surprised there are still people going door to door too! They look even more suspicious to me now than they did before. You and Mary are wise to turn people away. You can never be too careful!
Abby says
They are SO Obnoxious – and yes, a lot of scammers out there. I don’t trust anyone who sells things door-to-door these days.
Haven’t seen a vacuum cleaner “salesperson” in a while. Around here, it’s solar panel installs and pesticide sprayers. NO.
Mama Kat says
Oh yes, we get a lot of pesticide people too. lol! I stopped answering my door. The Ring is awfully helpful for that! I’ve never had a solar panel installer though. Maybe it’s not as lucrative of a career path in seattle.
Patty says
I hesitated before commenting then,..gave it some thought, not wanting to offend anyone with my reply.
I did “tone it down” a tad. Just a wee bit.
We rarely get people looking to sell items here, mostly they just leave cards in our mailbox. But…religious groups? A way different story. They come right up to the door and bang and ring away. For a while, several years ago, it was a weekly occurrence. The “No Tresspassing”, “Private Property” signs posted at our driveway entrance were ignored. They kept banging and ringing.
One day, I’d had quite enough. I’d been cleaning the fridge and was quite a disorganized mess, with a wet shirt, a kitchen knife and towels in my hand. The banging/ringing started….I flew down the stairs and opened the door to the “God People”….stopped them in their tracks and told them I was in the middle of butchering some of our chickens at that moment.
They left, never to be seen again. Except for the cards they now leave in our mailbox.
Mama Kat says
lol! I don’t care who is knocking on my door, if I don’t know you I don’t want to talk. At this point I don’t even open my door anymore. Those that belong here have a key. ;)