Do I have "sucker" written on me or something?

[TZ]

So I am wandering around a shopping mall the other day killing time (fyi, trotsky this was MOA) and I was just sitting there idly watching children in the amusement park when this woman walks up to me all friendly and says "Hi!". So I'm polite and answer back with a friendly "hello"...and then she starts in with "Did you know God loves you and has a plan for you?":wtf:
I was taken a little aback and stuttered out something about not being interested..I really didn't know what to say..I've never really been approached like that out of the blue..Was it because I was alone and perhaps looked sad? I dunno, but it was..bizarre to say the least:crazy:

[trotsky]

1. Sue, I have to say, that has NEVER happened to me in MN.

Not that we don't have our share of religious nuts, but part of the Scandinavian tradition up here is to avoid being pushy. You must have run into a transplant who wasn't scared away by the weather. Rare, but it happens. :)

How did you like the Megamall, anyway? Buy much?

[TZ]

3. I liked the megamall

I bought a few things for my coworkers and myself..Interesting place--I was fascinated by the amusement park.... I enjoyed my time in MN, for the most part..I was really impressed with how FRIENDLY everyone was...:)
I regret that you couldn't make it for the meetup though...

[trotsky]

9. Once you have kids, your time is no longer your own.

It's a very strange and difficult adjustment. You're so used to, even being married, being able to just pick up and go somewhere. And then this little crying machine appears and your schedule now revolves around that. Even though mine are 9 and almost 7 now, it's still the same routine. Of course once they're teens then I'll spend all my newly-found freetime by worrying about them. :)

But yeah, I'm bummed I missed out on the meetup. :(

[onager]

2. Possible response...

"God's plan for me was a terminal disease and it's highly contagious." (Fake sneezing fit.) "Oops! Better see your doctor pretty quick. Or your faith healer."

As a loner (generally), I get approached by religious wackos like that one all the time. But only in the USA by Xian wackos, I should hasten to add. Not here in Egypt. I'm surrounded by Muslims and Coptic Xians. In nearly 3 years not a single person has come up and tried to proselytize me.

Right down the street from my apartment, I did recently discover the rather alarming presence of a Bible Society Of Egypt storefront. Peeked inside. Looked like mostly books for kids--bright, colorful nonsense about Noah's Ark and the like, all printed in Arabic. And lots of Bibles, of course.

The obvious acronym for the place is "BS Of Egypt," which seems appropriate.

[Warpy]

4. Are you kidding? I LIVE for people who demand to know if I'm saved

I just tell them, "No, I'm recycled." The looks are priceless and I get to make a clean getaway while they try to process it.

Being a bad Buddhist has its perks.

[charlie]

5. Hah!

You made it well into your adulthood and this was your first time? Instead of feeling like a sucker, I'd congratulate myself for whatever psychic ArmorAll I had that kept the teeming God-botherers at bay. I've been waylaid by beatific loonies innumerable times, even in crowded ginzas in JAPAN, no less.

[TZ]

6. Oh I've been approached before

Usually by door knockers or itf I was at a church or something for a wedding or such but never just out of the blue like that...

[charlie]

7. That's what I'm talking about, though

You either have an aura of irredeemability or you live in a blessed part of the country where the religious don't think they're Amway salesmen. I've had people bang on my window to tell me about God at intersections. One chipper dude gave me the full gosh-darn-glad-I'm-sharing-with-you treatment while my cool airconditioning leaked out into the desert heat. He offered to sell me a plan for salvation in book form, said God would love me for it. I told him God loves me no matter what. He looked stricken, then wandered off muttering "No, He doesn't. No, He doesn't. No He DOESN'T" over and over, maybe an incantation to right whatever heretical imbalance I'd just injected into him. I have a nice deluxe bound edition of the Bhagavad Gita and a volume of commentary by Swami Bangagong I got at the mall. An overdressed young guy stopped me mid-stride to make his pitch, then offered the books "for a donation." I took the books and gave him a dollar. He was crestfallen, but hopefully learned there's no profit in buttonholing strangers. God's marketing division is out in force down here, have been for decades.

[TZ]

8. Ah, I think its the area

I live a very liberal county in Maryland..fundies are rare around here...

[deepthought42]

10. Yeah...can't say I've seen too many...

There are the 2 Mormon boys on their bikes that come around once in a while, but my mom sends them away nicely. I don't think no caffeine and no alcohol is her kind of thing, lol...

Occasionally I get the odd random religious pamplet left on my car (most recently last fall while my boyfriend and I were at RennFest. I suspect they noticed my heathen car w/its FSM and LOTR decals. I also suspect it was the church right across the street from RennFest. Let's see... Wine & beer, fun shows, & food-on-a-stick or church? Hmmm... :evilgrin: ) We got a kick out of it.

[moggie]

12. How do you handle your knockers?

I'd be interested to hear!

[TZ]

13. I used to make the mistake of saying I was Jewish...

*sigh* that just made it worse. Now I just say "not interested" and shut the door really fast or..after looking through the peephole not answering..I just really dislike debating religion with these people

[moggie]

14. I wonder how often these door-to-door missionaries make a convert?

I'd have thought it's one of the least effective recruiting methods around.

[frebrd]

16. I'm not sure they really care if they make a convert

I suspect it's the going around annoying people that gets them into heaven.

:)

[progressoid]

11. We're all suckers...for SATAN!

You're lucky someone finally told you of God's love! Now it's up to you to accept God's love into your heart and reject the temptations of Satan's power. If you...

Oops, sorry. It's Sunday morning and I was channeling some of my family members for a minute. I'm better now. :hi:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

15. LOL

that is all.

I laughed out loud at your OP.

I love a free lecture at the mall... don't you? :hi:

:rofl:

[skepticscott]

17. You should have said

"Well, my two children were killed in a car accident last year, I just found out I have terminal cancer and I lost my job because they couldn't afford to carry me on their health insurance and my husband left me for another woman after he found out. How do I get God to back off a little on that plan?"

I know...you never think of the really good replies until it's too late....

[Deep13]

18. "I didn't ask."

I think that's a good answer.

[jmm]

19. My record would have to be getting approached by

a Mormon, a Jehovah's witness, and a Scientologist all on the same day. I was on my way to a DU gathering when they all approached me and as someone told me when I got there I have the face that says sell me Bibles.

I know I'm a magnet for these people wherever I go but I live in work in the Boston area and I swear we've got people targeting this region because we supposedly need to be saved. I've heard people say they were sent from places like New Hampshire to spread God's word :eyes:.

[Deep13]

20. I got harassed by one in Las Vegas.

She probably figured if I was there I need to be saved from something too.