Dodging Religious Door-To-Doors

Humor of the Day ^

[SAMWolf]

It's Saturday morning when, suddenly, you hear a knock at the door. Everyone you know is either hung over or cleaning house. They all know better than to attempt any contact with you before noon anyway. It can only be one thing. Religious canvassers. Actually, that's two things, since, like snakes, they travel in pairs. You peek out the window, expecting to see two kids who look like IBM recruits.

Instead, you see a pudgy old lady in a faded print dress, attended by a skinny teenage girl with stringy hair and more freckles than a trout. The girl glances nervously at the slit in the curtain and quickly looks away. Girl Scout cookies? Raffle tickets?

Opening the door out of curiosity, you become the proud owner of a copy of their tract. It was the girl who fooled you. You never figured they'd bring a kid along. You rack your brains for some gracious means of escape, making a silent resolution that next time you'll follow your instinct to stand motionless in the middle of the living room hoping that protective coloration will render you invisible.

Rack your brains no longer! After years of similar experiences, we have developed several techniques for turning those agonizing encounters into hours of entertainment. Here are just a few of the great techniques you can use:

1. Listen for a minute or two with a polite but puzzled expression and then speak in a foreign language. Better yet, make one up. Brand names for electronic components serve as an excellent base for an impromptu language. I've found the following bit to be an excellent opener: 'Fritzen mitsuba micht sony leam spartinza. Nakamichi shpont olufsen takamine. Cheloken eraza fleecht?'

2. Before you open the door, put on a pair of Groucho glasses and pour some Pine Sol in a coffee cup. Then attempt to engage them in a serious debate, spreading Pine Sol fumes by blowing occasionally into the cup as if you are cooling it. See how long you can hold them. Try to remember not to drink out of the cup.

3. Pretend to be deaf. Point to your ears, shake your head, and make intricate movements with your fingers and hands. This can backfire if they happen to know sign language. In that case, switch to being blind.

4. Ask them if they are from the health board about the hepatitis quarantine. Offer them a sip of your coffee.

5. Tell them you are not allowed to talk to strangers until the assault case has come to trial. More effective if you come to the door with a knife or a baseball bat.

6. Using a cordless phone, call someone you haven't talked to for a while. Then go to the door and make gestures like you'll only be a minute. See how long they stay.

[TBP]

Another thing to do with the telemarketers is to tell them that you're impressed with how well they read the script. Ask if they would like to have you talk to the supervisor to let him know what a good job they are doing. Compliment them on their persistence. Analyze their performance to death. They are less likely to call back after that.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

I recommend a prepared list of questions photocopied in brochure format to hand to the bell ringer.
Question 1: Have you read the Oxford History of Christianity? Chapters 5,6,7,8, and 9 were interesting, weren't they?
Question 2: Who edited and put the various books together which we now know as "the Bible"?
Question 3: When did this happen?
Question 4:What did they think it meant?

[Boiler Plate]

CC,
I have known hundreds of mormons in my life and have of course been proselytized by most of them. I am all to aware of your practices and teachings and yes I have a book of morman. What I would like you to tell me is that Jesus Christ is just as much God as is the Father and Holy Spirit. That there is only one God in this universe or any other. That Adam did not lay with Mary to become Jesus' father and finally that there are no married couples in heaven that give birth to heavenly children that are then born here on earth. Well maybe about a few hundred other things, but we'll start with that. For what it's worth I will say that most of the mormons I have met are very honest, moral, and conservative minded people.

Best Regards,
Boiler Plate