No Soliciting!

I know I can't be the only one that feels this way which just makes the concept of door-to-door anything even more confusing to me. I don't need anything anyone can sell me by coming to my door. If I want it, the internets or Target can provide it to me.

Even though any time a solicitor came to the door it would enrage the hubs and me because they would NEVER take no for an answer even with our rabid dog barking, a kid on my hip and a kitchen timer blaring. And even though we never bought a single thing from any solicitor other than our 5 year old neighbor. And even though I always had a slight fear that solicitors were either casing the joint or eyeing us up as some sort of target in a weird scheme, we still held off on putting up a "No Soliciting" sign. We sort of felt like jerks putting one up. What's less welcoming than a sign that basically says, "Get the ef out, we don't want to talk to you!"?

And then some rumors started flying about a woman going door-to-door in our city under the intention of selling children's books. The rumors in our 'hood were that this "woman with a strange accent" was actually a scout in a sex trafficking ring (what!?) and she was finding out which homes had children by offering these fab reading materials (ah!?) and then she would later kidnap the kids that she thought would be beneficial to her crime (shut the ef up!). Not cool. So that day I made a trip to Fleet Farm for an $.89 "No Soliciting" sign, I even picked up a couple for the neighbors because it was time we ALL become jerks for the sake of our kiddos! I promptly stuck our sign on the siding next to the front door. "No way strange lady, you aren't allowed to knock on this door!" Neighbors started putting out the little security system signs in their yards for the systems that they had disconnected years ago. No, they hadn't hooked them back up but those signs are pretty threatening! Curtains started to be drawn more. Front doors closed. Lock down peeps!
Four years of bitching about people coming door to door without us doing a single thing about it. 5 minutes of neighborhood gossip and it. is. on.

And then we found out it was just that. Neighborhood gossip. The woman in question was registered with the city and worked for a legit company. Yes, she was asking people about other houses in the area that had kids but that was because houses with kids were her target demo. So now we all look like asses. Jerky asses.

We kept our "No Soliciting" sign up because A.) I still don't need anything that can be sold to me at my door. B.) I hate dealing with our rabid dog when people come to the door. C.) That sticker is really good quality and I can't get it off the damn siding.

Do you have a "No Soliciting" sign? Is it a jerky thing? And honestly, has ANYONE reading this EVER been happy that they received a visit at their front door from some dude peddling his wares? Creepers.