Today's Non-Political Rant

About once every three weeks, someone comes to my door, trying to get me to adopt their religious views. This annoys me on several levels, not the least of which is that I don't even like friends, let alone total strangers, coming to my door sans invitation. They all seem to have an uncanny knack for ringing my doorbell just when I'm in my underwear or about to get into the shower or especially when I'm in that "zone" where I'm writing something I really like and don't want to be interrupted. A few months ago when I hurt my foot, it was a special annoyance to have to hobble down the stairs to answer the door and find someone selling something.

So I've made a personal policy: If someone comes to my door without an invite, the answer is no. Whatever it is. No, I won't buy your product. No, I won't donate money to your cause. No, I won't give you money for repainting the house number of my curb for the fifth time this month.

And I especially won't stand there in my doorway and discuss Jesus Christ or The Bible or The Rapture with you. Those may all be important, worthy topics but I don't need to debate them with people who have nothing better to do with their lives than wander door to door with pamphlets. I usually tell such folks that I resent (a) someone diminishing those topics to such a shallow level that they can be sold like Girl Scout Cookies and/or (b) the concept that my beliefs are so shallow that they could be changed by a quick, impromptu chat with a stranger. My beliefs have changed throughout my adult life, but never because of one sales pitch. These people are like Human Spam, trying to sell you prescription medicines without a prescription. The only problem is that you can't just hit the Delete Key and make them go away in two seconds.