I had many many run-ins with door-to-door
Mormons in the
summer I spent in
Pocatello,
Idaho as a door-to-door
book salesman.
We'd walk the same streets, ring the same doorbells, and have the same doors slammed in our faces. I ran into a number of d-t-d Mormons, as I worked different areas. I would talk to them and we'd exchange information ("Hey, don't go to 255. They have a really nasty dog and an senile old man.", for example). We'd even do our sales pitches to each other; they didn't buy my books and I wasn't any more interested in becoming Mormon, but we got to practice our lines.
As a suburban Jewish New Yorker, I had come to despise door-to-door religious types. But really, they're just like anyone else, trying to do their job well, following given directions. I still don't let religious types inside as I have no interest, but I'm not rude like in the past. They're only trying to do their jobs.
Let me say a few things as a former salesman (albeit a rather poor one), that might or might not be relevant to d-t-d Mormons.
- I was told to go TO houses which had "no soliticing" signs, because the people inside are likely "more susceptible to salesmen, and thus put the sign up so they don't have the urge to buy anything" (seriously). And if someone got nasty and said "don't you see the sign, asshole?", our reply was to be "oh, I didn't see it".
- As far as timing, we were told to keep going back to places until we got someone. So if you ignore the doorbell at 3 PM, you might hear it again at 9 PM, when the salesman/religion-type is retracking their ground. It's easier to just answer and say "not interested", then to ignore.
- Related to that, my work day started at 8 AM. Were people asleep? Sure. They'd be woken, but usually were too groggy to be pissed. I'd say "oh did I wake, you? I'm terribly sorry. I'll be back in your neighborhood this afternoon and I'll just stop by then." The sleepy, confused homeowner would often mumble and go back to sleep. I'd come back later, and some would feel guilty about me coming back all that way (although I was just going through the area again anyway, trying to see anyone I missed), and invite me in. In other words, waking people up sometimes led to a sale...so while some people might be pissed, that's why salespeople (at least me) work so early.
- Final sales thing, also relevant to Mormons...to the kind, generous souls who feel badly and invite in salespeople, but would never buy anything. Don't do it. A salesperson would rather be told no after two minutes at the door than spend 30 minutes in someone's house. Time is money.
So anyways, be nice to door-to-door Mormons and other d-t-d types, unless they're obnoxious. They're people afterall.