<p>I have encountered two known JW in my life time. One was when I was staying for the summer out in Minnesota and my cousin’s neighbors were JWs. They had a gorgeous garden. Once, they were outside and my neighbor and I went to talk to them. They were very rude and basically wanted nothing to do with us. </p>
<p>The other was a friend I had in high school. He was very friendly and I got to know a lot about his religion through him. We also discussed mine. He too hated going door-to-door, but he was understanding when people slammed the door in his face. </p>
<p>People of all religion come in all shapes and sizes lol. </p>
<p>My house is oddly located, so the very few times people actually do come to my house, I let my pit bull stick her head out the door first. If they choose to stick around for more than a few seconds, I’ll open up to see what they’d like. Most people chose to walk away. I’m just glad no one’s ever around to see my “vicious” pit bull run up to her best friend, the mail lady, for her daily treats from her or see my tiny 7 year old cousin walking her. I’d much rather they think she was actually capable of doing anything other than giving kisses (even though she’s not… she barely even barks and she has quite a pathetic bark at that) ;).</p>
<p>We don’t have a working doorbell, but the disadvantage of working outdoors in my front yard is that people see me as an easy target ( but I also have met lots of the new neighbors that way as well)</p>
<p>I’m afraid I am a disappointment to some of the groups who proselytize, because they start off trying to get me to agree that we are all going to hell in a handbasket & I can give them too many examples why that isn’t true.
( sometimes I am tempted to print out my own literature about The Church of Pearl Jam- " There is only one commandment- & it is Don’t be an A*sHole")</p>
<p>I knew a fellow who was very interested in religion and the Bible–he was studying with the thought of converting to the Catholic church. When the JWs came to his door and asked him if he believed in the Bible, he was very interested to talk with them. “The Septuaginit or the Vulgate?” he asked. </p>
<p>Wow, what a variety of responses. I have not had a problem firmly turning away anyone who knocks at our door (tho I was taken in by a frozen meat delivery once, sigh). We did have a more irritating problem with a chronic scientology solicitation call. They called constantly for many months, even tho we tried to explain that they had reached the wrong phone/person/home. We finally started asking to speak to their supervisor and their address to send a complaint for harrassment and invasion of privacy. It took about 6 months and many, many interchanges before they finally stopped calling us and hopefully deleted H from their lists. :(</p>
<p>OK lmnop… now I gotta go look those up on wikipedia…</p>
<p>Was the fellow purposely meaning to turn the tables on those poor JWs?</p>
<p>That reminds me of an experience I had in HS (bear with me, this will seem like a bit of a non sequitur). I was walking down the street when a guy drove by and stopped to ask me for directions. After I began to give him directions I realized he …er… ummm… wasn’t really wanting directions, as his pants were open and what he was holding wasn’t exactly a writing implement. Without batting an eye, I exclaimed “Oh my- that looks TERRIBLE! Have you seen a doctor about that??” His face turned beet red and he drove off, LOL. </p>
<p>My point- there is something to be said for not giving them the response they were expecting.</p>
<p>Unless I feel like talking, which hasn’t happened in more than a decade, I usually just tell the JWs that I am a member of the Pastoral Council at the local Catholic Church (which is the truth) and that always sends them on their way.</p>
<p>We also get a fair number of telephone solicitations since I’m too lazy to put myself on the “No Call Register.” I never go ballistic on them, but politely inform them that in 23 years my wife and I have never purchased anything, or agreed to donate money to, a telephone solicitor. I then inform them that if they think they are going to be the first to go ahead and say something. If they do I hang up. Never had a call back. Sometimes they hang up first. Problem solved!</p>
<p>I have sometimes responded with “My DH is commander of the local war veterans post and they are always needing donations. Would you like to contribute?”</p>
<p>I sometimes chat it up with these folks. I know they are just doing their job and I know I won’t give them a dime, but the longer I keep them on the phone the fewer other peole they’ll pester?? </p>
<p>Actually one time during the last election I got a call from a woman looking for volunteers for the national political campaign. While I wasn’t going to volunteer my time, I did tell her that my DS was working on the campaign in his state. We got to talking and she told me all about her job as a guidance counselor at a nearby school, and we had a lot of friends in common. LOL. She did also appreciate not getting yelled at or hung up on.</p>
<p>My late mother used to tell these unsuspecting solicitors that we were in the middle of a funeral. That usually shut them up quick. Then, during one of the nights we sat shivah for her (this is something done after a person’s death), we got one of those calls! I always thought she arranged that just to give me a laugh.</p>
<p>When I was just starting law school, one day I started talking to another new student. After a short while, he started looking apprehensive and asked cautiously, “What church do you belong to? Are you trying to convert me?” I was taken aback and assured him I am agnostic and am NOT trying to convert anyone to anything other than trying to make some new friendships. He said that the only other person who had been friendly to him was a cheery young woman who after a short while tried to get him to convert to her church! He & I were friends throughout law school, and neither of us ever discussed religion or the rocky start to our friendship. :)</p>
<p>My father-in-law had the most effective method. When he saw the “Watchtower” people coming from his front room, he would take off down his front walk yelling “get the hell out of here!”. They always ran. Of course, I forbid my husband to use his Dad’s method at our house, but other methods we have tried are just not as effective.</p>
<p>Politely telling them that we are Catholic doesn’t work at all, the proselytisers only use that as a springboard to tell you why they themselves converted from Catholicism. Putting up a “no solicitors” sign next to the doorbell hasn’t worked at all. An amended sign reading “no bible thumpers either” worked somewhat better. Even better than that was a stack of pamphlets I got from the American Atheists. But that still required opening the door and putting up with their spiel in order to give them the pamphlet. Lately I don’t open the door at all. After seeing them through the peephole (easy to spot, always a pair of women wearing dresses and carrying a stack of Watchtowers) I merely holler “go away” through the door.</p>
<p>Thanks, fallgirl! But sometimes my quick wit (aka smart mouth) is unappreciated and gets me into trouble!!</p>
<p>For example (and speaking of quick on my feet…), also while in HS (which was one big school for the whole city, and had students from all walks of life), I went down to the cafeteria to buy a snack. Some big dude came up to me and tried to hustle me for a quarter (which was the cost of the snack way back then in the stone age). I looked up at him and asked “do you have change for a twenty?” Needless to say, he didn’t find my comment particularly funny- and chased me up the stairs. I ran into the office I was working in, and into the back room, closing the door quickly behind me. The poor students in the front part of the office had to deal with this very p-o’ed big dude! Oops! :o</p>
<p>“Politely telling them that we are Catholic doesn’t work at all”</p>
<p>Well, if I see what appears to be a highly aggressive pair of proselytizers rapping on the door I might tell them I’m Jewish or a Muslim. That works even better.</p>
<p>I don’t think any have been here in the 20 years we’ve lived here–we have had people soliciting for some environmental cause, and a lot of people who wanted to do home repairs or tree work. I also sometimes use the tactic of asking through the door who it is and telling them we’re not interested.</p>
<p>See, I think that gives people ammunition. I don’t want to give them ammunition and they don’t need to know why I"m not interested. I would just want them to go away.</p>
