No Soliciting!

So today for the first time since I've been in California somebody apologized for slamming the door on me. To be honest though, he was actually one of the nicer fellas I've encountered. A lot of the houses here have "no soliciting" signs on them. Let me tell you a thing or two about them signs! They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some are super small and placed right above the doorbell while others are on the door itself and match its size. How do I deal with a sign as a solicitor? Well, if I've already walked all the way up to the door before noticing the sign I usually knock anyway and decide to deal with whatever is on the other side. And yes, when I say "whatever is on the other side" I'm implying "it" is not human.

I had this one guy about a week ago come out of his house and say, "Hey, didn't you see the sign!?" To this I simply replied, "Yes sir, I did but at that point it was too late. I had already knocked on your door. Two options ran through my head! Option A: run like a coward and take on a new lifestyle as a doorbell ditcher or Option B: take courage and stand my ground like a man! As you can see by me still standing here, I chose the latter option." He made a strange face as he fought a smile appearing on his face and then it came... SLAM! (but it was more of a gentle slam) There was somebody else in that same week who had a HUGE sign but I totally missed it. He did the whole, "did you see the sign?" deal and I began to lecture him about what a proper no soliciting sign really looks like. "Sir, if you really wanted me not to be here you should have chosen an angrier looking sign. Look at the sign you have out here! For goodness sake, it's embroidered! I thought it was a 'God Bless This Home' sign until you pointed it out to me. Well, since we're past that can I interest you in some pest control?" Another epic slam.

There was this house which in hindsight I wish I had knocked on just so I could give those folks a piece of my mind. They had a no soliciting sign, of course. Right next to that, was a "in case of emergency please save my jack russell terrier". I suddenly painted a scenario in my mind of this large house engulfed in flames and this poor little dog barking its little, blackened lungs out. I stood there on the sidewalk laughing at its pain and then I realized that the owner was also in the house! So I heroically broke down the door and emerged a minute later covered in ash carrying this dog to safety. The end. The folks never made it but at least the dog was safe.

I feel like I've learned a lot about people as I've gone door-to-door. I thought I'd do a good deed today while I was knocking. Today was a rainy day. Not that pouring rain but the kind that is a bare drizzle. As in, I could carry a paper with me and when I got to the end of the street it was damp but I appeared to still be dry. You with me, ok!? Anyway, I noticed a suburban (Yukon XL) in someone's driveway with the back windows both halfway down. I went up to the door and knocked. A man answered in his 50's wearing a big, burly moustache on his face. The first thing out of my mouth was, "Sir, I am in no way trying to sell you anything today. I'm here to inform you that it's raining outside and your car windows are down. You might want to consider rolling them up." What did he say back to me? " I already have a pest control service." Wow, did he even listen to a word I said!?!?!? What does his response teach me? It means that the second he saw me he shut down his brain to listening to anything I had to say with a preconditioned response waiting for when I finished. It's scary, because he's not alone in that reaction. I think all of us do that to an extent. Why are some people intolerable to argue with? I think it's because they don't listen at all and just wait to say what they have to say. I think all of us need to do a better job at listening.