A woman came to the door last night, supposedly soliciting donations for UNICEF. Dave answered when she rang the bell, and he stood talking to her for a while. I listened as he politely tried to explain that we already give to charity through work, blah blah blah, and she just wasn't taking no for an answer. Finally I walked up behind Dave's shoulder, said to her, "We're not interested, sorry," and closed the door. I mean, I do give money to UNICEF, but I'm not going to hand it over to a stranger who rings our doorbell at 6:30 p.m.
Dave said, "Well, you went a little New York on her, didn't you?" But he said it admiringly. He marveled that he'd stood there so long listening to her. Only in retrospect did he see how odd the situation was. Does UNICEF really send around solitary people to ring doorbells on rainy evenings in West Hampstead?
Anyway, I told Dave I'd give some money to UNICEF to make up for going a little New York on her. So that's on the agenda for today. (At the same time, I don't want to encourage this door-to-door stuff, so charities take note: I am not doing this again.)
It was rainy and grim yesterday -- pouring when I left work. But on a positive note, I finished our annual report on library database usage statistics. Doesn't that sound exciting? My life is wild.
(Photo: Kilburn High Road, on a sunnier day in June.)
I think you would have had to throw in a couple of f-bombs to truly be a New Yorker -- genial F-bombs, of course, but for EMPHASIS. Like: "Do I look like a f'ing millionaire to you?" or "Why the f are you out on a rainy night in Hempstead?" Etc.
ReplyDeleteYOU THE MAN!
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome story!
I love your New York reaction. I used to get all kinds of solicitors at my old house. Most of the time I wouldn't even answer the door.
ReplyDeletethat's the only way to handle people like that. if you give them a chance to respond, like Dave did, you will be there all night. or on the phone. my response to phone solicitations is 'not interested, thank you' and hang up. I don't wait for them to respond. to the not interested.
ReplyDeleteI must be a closet New Yorker then - and you'd probably never guess I was born in the south. I have no patience for solicitations of any kind. The other day our local police department called collecting money for their annual toy drive (a legitimate GOOD thing). I hung up on them, and the next time they called & I answered they hung up on ME. They waited until Mike answered the phone & of course he made a donation. Ha!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of that famous absinth painting
ReplyDeleteGood for you for rescuing Dave. New York does instill such qualities. Im sure you were exquisitely polite while being quite firm.
ReplyDelete