A Frustrating Encounter

Nan Religion

Yesterday we had a salesperson come to our door. What he was selling is irrelevant. The impetus for this post is what he included in his sales pitch. Here’s what happened …

The guy started out the same as any salesperson does — asking questions to see if there might be interest in his product. Based on our answers (which were positive), he began his sales pitch. Since there were several things in the package he was offering, this took a fair amount of time.

Having been in sales myself several ages back, I judged him as a fairly talented salesperson. He seemed to provide relevant information, asked the right questions, and had good (practiced) responses to our concerns. (We did end up making the purchase, BTW.)

So why am I writing this post? Well, as the conversation began winding down and we had pretty much indicated we were going to go forward, he began inserting bible scripture and Christian phrases into his closing.

I wanted so very badly to react and express my own position, but my other half isn’t as outspoken as I am so I swallowed down my comments.

I’m sure we’re all aware of the “rules” related to free speech so technically, this person had every right to express his religious leanings. But the thing that burns me is why, in the course of a business transaction, do people feel the need to insert their Christian beliefs? I can accept (although I don’t like it) that it’s part of the rhetoric when people come to your door peddling their faith, but …

This was a business transaction!

So I suppose you’re wondering why I’m writing a post about this incident. I guess it’s because, as I mentioned, I didn’t get to “reject” this person’s “preaching” like I wanted to — and I needed to get the resulting frustration out of my system.

I appreciate you bearing with me. And if you have had similar experiences you would like to share … feel free.

52 thoughts on “A Frustrating Encounter”

  1. I have less patience with door-to-door salesmen than you do. I pretty much won’t buy anything from them, ever. Mostly that’s because we are so deluged with them in my neighborhood that I don’t want to give them the encouragement. And I generally don’t trust them to be legit, because a lot of them aren’t.

    In our area they are required to have a license to solicit door-to-door, and are required to show it to you if asked. I always ask for it, and if they try to weasel out and say something like “it’s in the truck” or “my manager has it” I refuse to talk to them until they go get it, which they never do. My spouse will sometimes call the non-emergency police number to report them if they can’t produce it.

    I’m sure they find us pretty frustrating in return. Besides asking to see their license, we generally also refuse to take any paperwork they try to hand us, or shake a hand they offer. My attitude is “you knocked on my door to sell me something I don’t need, I don’t have to be any more than basically civil.

    My kids have a recent story. They answered the door, and the salesman asked if their parents were home. they replied “I think my dad’s upstairs? OK bye.” and then closed the door. A few minutes later they looked out the window, and the salesman was still standing there, as if he expected that they were going to get their dad. Which they had not said they were going to do. They don’t really know how long he waited there, but it was an unreasonably long time!

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    • We’ve lived here just under two years and have had one JW, one Mormon, and one “bible-believing church” member solicit our souls. This was the first salesperson (of an actual product) … and he came recommended by one of our (non-religious) neighbors so we felt comfortable with him and his wares.

      I think your story about the salesman is hilarious! He probably never did “get it.”

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  2. The religious have a strong impulse to spread the Word of their good fortune, and then your “acceptance” of his business deal was further proof that he was one of the chosen. It is all about “them”. GROG

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    • Yep! You’re probably right. He had probably prayed beforehand and was thrilled that his prayer was answered. And damn if we didn’t help! Wonder if “God” will bless us too?

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  3. It is rare that what is being sold is not readably available from another vender. I have a trifold brochure that I made for just these occasions. Door to door sale or plane old proselytizing it’s all one to me. They all get one to read first. It’s condescending because I want it to be. If I have to listen to your shit you damn well have to read mine.

    https://www.icloud.com/pages/01YsDeF_ZtS6KfI6SmPe3Q4xQ#Door_to_door__2

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  4. Hello Nan. What happened to me this week was not in the same class as your experience but here is my running into the wall of religion. There is an older couple I help out with their computers. The lady goes to church every day. She is really into being a Catholic. I do not know about her husband if he is religious as unlike her he never mentions god. I know their religion so I try not to let the subject come up when I am there. This week I was super frustrated because again they forgot their passwords, the husband had jammed two CD’s into the CD drawer on his new laptop, nothing written down, no prep made for my visit to help them. The conversation got on to a person who died in the park and the couple next door to them who the hubby may die soon. The lady of the house started making statements about god. I tried to ignore it while I explained why some dying people get angry… they are losing everything. She claimed that was not true as she had sat at the bedside of ten people while they died and they were at peace with Jesus with them. I explain that was just a few hours before death, not months or a year before. No difference. But I admit I got angry and snapped back when she started telling me she KNEW god was watching and god was with us and god was protecting us. Up until this point everything I replied she simply blamed on Satan. At this point I asked her if god was always watching why he let kids be raped? Why not stop it? You would try to stop a kid rape wouldn’t you? Oh yes she answered but he has to allow free will. I told her no, either he is all powerful and can allow free will without kid rape or he is not all powerful and can not stop it. Or he is a prick who gets off on watching kids raped and then punishes the one who did it without any concern for the suffering of the kid. She tried to justify it, and I told her there was simply no justifying what sexual abuse does to a child and if she thought her god was OK with allowing that it was not a god worth worshiping. I took a bunch of deep breaths and went back to fixing her hubbies laptop. She said “I am sorry I upset you” and I knew she did not hear a word I had said. I never bring up religion at a person’s home, that is not my place, but in this case she forced it on me and kept making the statement she KNEW god was real and she knew god did this or that. I had had enough. Oh well, when I was leaving the husband came up to me and said he would only have his computer as long as I was around to help him and could fix stuff for him. I told him I would always help them. I wanted to add I just did not want to hear about their god every time. If he is so great let him fix their computers and reset their lost passwords. Hugs

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    • Just one more example how totally indoctrinated “godly” people are. There’s just no reasoning with them. I rarely “discuss” their beliefs with them. Generally I just tell them I’m not a believer and totally uninterested in anything they have to say. However, as I mentioned, in this instance, I felt it best to keep my mouth shut.

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      • Hello Infidel. I did get angry at the end but I reminded my self these are not very smart people. I try to be reasonable but the constant assertion that she knew all this stuff as fact when she was clearly meaning she felt it got to me. Hugs

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  5. I guess I am wondering why you still bought his product? Obviously it was something you thought you could use. Was it a great deal on top of that?
    Like UD above, I seldom let a salesman in my door, though in my town they do not have to be licenced. My partner lets some in, for some reason, but I do not trust them as far as I can spit. Gift horses, and all that jazz.
    But the minute anyone says a religious word, I tell them we are atheists, and we would love to tell them about how wonderful life is without a god to tell us what to do. They are gone within seconds. Anyone who is not truthful with me from the start gets the bum’s rush.

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    • The product was good, rawgod. And it was only after we had agreed to make the purchase that he started sharing his “Christianity” with us. Had I been by myself, I would have cut him off at the pass, but under the circumstances, I felt it best to keep my mouth shut. However, I did make some “faces,” so hopefully he picked up on that. 😀

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  6. Ah, great time to dish out some quotes from the Koran to such individuals. Well, that’s what I would do, but most people wouldn’t do that. They’d bite their lip like you did and write a post about it later. But, if you’re ever so inclined, learn a verse or two of the Koran and use ’em. It literally shocks people and often stops the religious discussion dead in its tracks. “Let me tell you about a REALLY great religion while we’re on the topic, OK? Islam! It’s a REAL religion. Here, let me lend you my Koran, Mr. Salesman, so you can see what God REALLY wants of us!” 🙂

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    • We get perhaps one or two visits per year from Seventh Day Adventists – the only religious tradition that seems to do “missionary” work locally. I prefer wearing thobe while at home, so if i’m attired that way when they call, a simple “do I look like I’d be interested?” seems to be enough to send them on their way, their assumption being that I’m a Muslim due the the thobe and beard.

      Door to door sales have a 7 day “I’ve changed my mind, no questions asked” protection here, and if I ever had Nan’s experience, then I’d invoke that no matter what I had signed up for. But this would be one instance where I would explain precisely why I was cancelling the deal.

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  8. Years ago I was engaged in selling my mother’s house, and had found a realtor I was comfortable with. At one point in the proceedings we were sitting in the kitchen and he said, “let me ask you something” and I thought, “oh crap, he’s going to make a pass at me…”

    But he asked me what religion I was, and I said none, and he turned out to be a Yankee Mormon, and most joyous. He really got into the wonder of it all, his face glowed, and i didn’t have the heart to stop him. When he finally ran down he apologized for getting carried away, and i told him it was okay, it does happen. He wasn’t really preaching to me, he was just so full of the joy of it all.

    To his credit he never brought it up again.

    And we had two neighbors when I lived there, one on each side, and they were both JWs. We talked about the differences, and I was good friends with both of them. And again, no one tried to ‘entice’ me to join.

    But when Witnesses come to the house here I just refuse to even go to the door.

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  9. I sold cars for a short time and there was this Uber Christian working with us. He would routinely steal everyone’s ups and praise the lord, “Jesus’ bountiful blessings are beautiful man”. He’d stroll around after a steal going in about “god is good, god is good”. No fucking clue how offensive he was and that was when I was a believer.

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  10. Judaism and Christianity are merchant based religions. According to Joseph Campbell “Now, I see Judaism and Christianity as translations of universal mythology into the vocabulary of merchants.It all has to do with sin and atonement, debt and payment,and the very word redemption has to do with redeeming pawn from a pawn broker.” After all, what is a covenant but a contract.

    So “Christian Businesses” are part and parcel of the religion as a whole. And virtue signally involved passing a few code words back and forth. Translation: Trust me, trust my business.

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    • Professor..Have you read The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey? Excellent book…right up your taste, I think.

      These Christians have their entire self worth wrapped up in believing these fantasy stories and having some answer or twisted quote for anything someone else will say.

      It’s like a wife’s story of a man who degrades her and beats her yet she claims he loves her, she won’t leave him and he is just hard for others to understand and see the bigger picture of this love…..on steroids! The same sort of scenario just ramped up a thousand times more.

      People not wanting to know the truth because it would totally invalidate their life. Very pathetic indeed.

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      • After reading several reviews of Nixey’s book Mary, it does indeed intrigue me. Thank you for that. It is definitely going on my Wishlist. 🙂

        Regarding their neural reprogramming of their brains, it is most certainly a life-choice of repression, negativity (because of the need for a fake salvation), and therefore a blood-sucking & creative degradation type of leech on their brains. And the only way they can maintain that false reality is to be constantly surrounded by other Christian mental zombies performing theatrical acts of divine activity, intervention, and “faith” reaffirmations inside the echo-chambers of a church auditorium. 😉

        Thanks again for that book suggestion Ma’am. ❤

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      • I’m reading The Darkening Age right now. An excellent history, though painful reading for me, due to my great love of the Greco-Roman civilization. I’ll probably post a review next week.

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      • My favorite fictional religion was that of the Ori in Stargate (I am such a nerd). There super-powered missionaries (the Priors) had an answer based in the scriptures for every response or criticism.

        Of course, the Ori are based on Christianity and (especially) Islam so I am shocked such sacrilegious plot line was produced!

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  12. A salesman knocked on your door? Wow, that in itself is a mighty red flag! Can’t say I’ve encountered a Christian sales pitch, all we get are Jehovah Witnesses who get straight to the point of selling salvation. Off topic, but have to share how my brother dispatched Saturday morning JW interruption. His house is half way up a mountain on the outskirts of a small town, very isolated, closest neighbor a few kilometres away. During the fall/winter he supplements income with fur trapping rights to a enormous swatch of wilderness. Weekend after weekend Jehovah Witnesses knocked on his door, Week 1, 2 and 3 he politely turned them away. Week 4 found him skinning a Marmot when JW tried again. “Are you kidding me?” he groaned, walking to the door with half skinned Marmot in hand. One of them managed to sputter “what’s that?”. “Skinning my cat” he replied. His description of their mute about face, comically hasty retreat and tire screeching exit is priceless. They never bothered him again. 🙂

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      • Most people are horrified by the story, I have to be careful who I repeat it to (they can’t fathom the fact he’s a fur trapper), glad you appreciated the absurdity of having to squelch JW tenacity with a partially skinned animal in hand. I laugh out loud every time a mental image of his dead pan delivery crosses my mind. 🙂

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  13. Interesting…I’ve never had a salesperson knock on my door..anywhere. I’d be leery of even opening the door.
    If anyone starts to spew religious stuff, I keep quiet for a few minutes, then I’d either walk away or say I’m not religious and have NO interest in what they are saying.
    These people are so obnoxious and intimidating. I feel like only in America do we have these nutcases.

    Maybe you could say..”Oh, I’m sorry you feel that way and believe that. We’re you not able to get a good education where you were from?”Have you never studied classical history or any science courses?

    I’d get snarky….probably not a good thing, but I can’t help it. It’s all so ridiculous.

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    • Ordinarily, under normal circumstances (i.e., my other-half isn’t standing nearby), I look them straight in the eye and say, “I’m not a believer and I’m not interested in anything you have to say. Please don’t come here again. And pass the word.” So far it’s worked. The three that did come knocking haven’t been back … nor have any of their cohorts.

      But as I pointed out in my post, in this particular instance, I felt it was prudent to bite my tongue.

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      • This is a near-personal experience. A third kind of reply that my father gave one Saturday afternoon when he saw a man with a Watch Tower magazine in his hand standing at the door. Supposing that the purpose of JW is the same the world over, he told him: “Look young man, I’ll buy you a copy, and would invite you to come in and have a chat. On the topic you choose, except religion”.Of course, the missionary was surprised but he accepted, and they had a nice talk; I think he came back at least once…
        .-

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  14. I do recall (belatedly) one event with a tag team of Witnesses–I was giving craft lessons here, and one day these two women joined the group. They came back more than once on their own, and finally one day they tried to corner me, religious-wise. We had a very uncomfortable half hour, and then they finally left, never to return. I was angry, not at the attempt at proselytizing (sp), but the tag team approach. And they “stole” my ideas for their own use as well, to sell the products. Not nice, JW.

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  16. 1. I won’t ever, in any circumstance, open my door for a stranger or any unexpected person. (Possible exception which I hope to never encounter: police with a warrant.) There is simply zero reason for such a person to knock on my door.

    2. One of the many reasons I’m happy to be out of Texas is that I no longer have to hear the constant Christian salutations from business persons. In major retail stores, supermarkets, drugstores, etc., I was regularly assaulted with “God be with you”, “have a blessed day”, “praise the Lord”, etc. The one time I did think to complain, I got an email back from a regional manager saying it was the company policy (Walgreens) to allow their employees to freely express their religious beliefs — even if on the clock and talking to customers. Note that I have never been back to a Walgreens since then.

    3. I think the people who talk most about their religion are those with the most doubt. Someone secure in her faith has no need to spout off about it constantly. I got in the habit of, whenever a person talking to me started bringing it up, to use facial expressions that indicated they were completely insane. I would never say this verbally to them, but raise my eyebrows, widen my eyes, take a step back, etc. Most of them seemed to never notice this.

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    • Egads! I don’t think I could ever live in Texas!! (The Professor has also expressed some encounters he’s had.) And to think Walgreen’s thought it was OK is mind-boggling! But then I guess it goes back to the culture of the state. Here in Oregon, I don’t recall ever coming across anyone using “Christianese” in a store setting. Of course C’mas time is a different animal.

      You may be right about the insecurity, but when I was “servin’ the Lawd,” it was practically a commandment to “advertise” your faith. It was called “planting the seed.”

      Thanks for stopping in, Anderson. Hope to see you more often. 🙂

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  17. We occasionally get people asking for money or food, but in the years we have lived here I cannot honestly recall a single religious solicitaion at our gate – no one can get to our front door – and the only salespeople that ever pitch up are the infrequent visits we get from a small group of blokes offering top soil and compost.

    Maybe the dogs are a good enough deterrent?

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