How do you deal with people who try and give you pamphlets?

[Xiporah]

Yesterday afternoon, when I got on the bus, I sat with a long time friend and his mother. There was a man on the other side, an older man with a shoulder bag and wearing a sharp looking pinstripe fedora with his tee-shirt and wrinkled khakis.

He immediately started talking to my friend. Eventually, he pulled out a pamphlet. At first, he tried to hand it to me. I just smiled, held up my hand and said, "No thanks."

He gave it to my friend, who reluctantly took it. He then looked at me and asked why I didn’t want one. I was about to tell him why, when he asked, "Are you already saved?"

"Saved enough," I said with a smile.

I probably wouldn't have gotten off so easy if he'd spoken better English, and if I hadn't been saved by the handicapped man who always rides the bus, who dragged me into a conversation about his specific handicap.

This was a rare escape for me. Usually I'm dragged into an overly uncomfortable discussion about God and I end up getting off the bus three stops early. I don't know. I have no problem telling people that I am an atheist. I'm not ashamed. I just get really uncomfortable when people try to talk to me about religion or try to sway me. I always have, even when I was a child.

 

[WritelySo]

I just tell them "thanks, but I am not superstitious" or something of the like.  

[Redem]

If it's some random person from nowhere, I simply refuse to talk to them. A blanket dismissal in voice and gesture.

If it's someone I've already spoken to then I accept and immediately bin it.  

[CaprinaePsi]

Depends. If it's on a high school, I go balls out and tell the person to stop trying to brainwash these kids (forgot the adjectives I'd use to describe the kids, but same message).

If it's anywhere else, I say no politely, and if they don't stop, then I go balls out.  

[Sanguvixen]

I've only been approached with pamphlets a few times. I usually tell them, "No thanks, I'm not interested."

Only one was ever persistent...and I held up two middle fingers to their face and told them to get lost...and they did. Now it might have been rude...but so was harassing me and not taking "no" for an answer.

The best thing I can think is to ignore these people. Of course I put on headphones when on the bus so...that usually stops people from trying to talk to me.  

[Xiporah]

Sanguvixen

I've only been approached with pamphlets a few times. I usually tell them, "No thanks, I'm not interested."

Only one was ever persistent...and I held up two middle fingers to their face and told them to get lost...and they did. Now it might have been rude...but so was harassing me and not taking "no" for an answer.

The best thing I can think is to ignore these people. Of course I put on headphones when on the bus so...that usually stops people from trying to talk to me.

I miss that shield. My MP3 players keeps breaking. sad

 

[Retarted Musician]

I hate it when the Religion Club at my school covers my locker with pamphlets and banners... Let's just say the their president gets a nice little present in their locker the next day... normally an army of sticky notes or other peices annoyingly small paper say various atheist comment...

tee hee...

 

[Sanguvixen]

Xiporah

Sanguvixen

I've only been approached with pamphlets a few times. I usually tell them, "No thanks, I'm not interested."

Only one was ever persistent...and I held up two middle fingers to their face and told them to get lost...and they did. Now it might have been rude...but so was harassing me and not taking "no" for an answer.

The best thing I can think is to ignore these people. Of course I put on headphones when on the bus so...that usually stops people from trying to talk to me.

I miss that shield. My MP3 players keeps breaking. sad

Poor thing...why does it keep breaking?

I have an 4 gig Ipod that I bought out of my own money. I baby it because it is as you call it, a nice shield.  

[Xiporah]

Sanguvixen

Poor thing...why does it keep breaking?

I have an 4 gig Ipod that I bought out of my own money. I baby it because it is as you call it, a nice shield.

I have no clue. They just kept breaking.

My first one was a Dell DJ. Dell doesn't even make them anymore. It would freeze and restart for no reason. I ended up unwittingly donating it to a friend who had brain cancer, but survived. I loaned it to him so he'd have tunes to listen to while he was staying for his treatment. I visited him a few times, but they'd moved him to another hospital and he sent it home with his parents so the hospital wouldn't lose it. But I never saw him again after he left the hospital. O_o

My second one was a Creative Zen Vision M. It froze after three months and I couldn't even get it to start up without an error screen. Note to everyone. Creative has Email Only customer Service. Horrible. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy becuase each time they respond, it's someone else and it takes 48 hours each time.

My next one was a Zune. Same thing happened. For some reason, my player freezes now. Stanger still, even though I deleted EVERYTHING off the player, it registers that 28 Gigs of space are being used up by something. I don't even have 28 gigs of space on my compuer, much less music, videos or pictures. I can't figure it out and when I called about it, the guy was from India and barely understood me. Thanks Microsoft. I was so put off that I don't want to call again.

Considering that's about $600+ of broken or lost equipment, I've been too scared to buy anything else.

 

[Sanguvixen]

Xiporah

Sanguvixen

Poor thing...why does it keep breaking?

I have an 4 gig Ipod that I bought out of my own money. I baby it because it is as you call it, a nice shield.

I have no clue. They just kept breaking.

My first one was a Dell DJ. Dell doesn't even make them anymore. It would freeze and restart for no reason. I ended up unwittingly donating it to a friend who had brain cancer, but survived. I loaned it to him so he'd have tunes to listen to while he was staying for his treatment. I visited him a few times, but they'd moved him to another hospital and he sent it home with his parents so the hospital wouldn't lose it. But I never saw him again after he left the hospital. O_o

My second one was a Creative Zen Vision M. It froze after three months and I couldn't even get it to start up without an error screen. Note to everyone. Creative has Email Only customer Service. Horrible. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy becuase each time they respond, it's someone else and it takes 48 hours each time.

My next one was a Zune. Same thing happened. For some reason, my player freezes now. Stanger still, even though I deleted EVERYTHING off the player, it registers that 28 Gigs of space are being used up by something. I don't even have 28 gigs of space on my compuer, much less music, videos or pictures. I can't figure it out and when I called about it, the guy was from India and barely understood me. Thanks Microsoft. I was so put off that I don't want to call again.

Considering that's about $600+ of broken or lost equipment, I've been too scared to buy anything else.

Are you rough with your equipment?

I've had two Ipods so far. A 1 gig that now belongs to my mother. It's amazing it still works.

I have my current one. It's a refurbished thing that I bought at a decent price when Ipod put out a few new things. They stuffed their Nano's aside to be sold off quickly.

I've only ever had a few problems. At one point my first one didn't want to turn off but all I had to do was hook it to the computer and do this button combo thing and then it worked fine.

The only other thing...well...actually that is it. You might try getting an Ipod and see if you can locate an older version of Itunes.

Or you could go for something that is off-brand. Just a little MP3 player that is also a flash-drive. Those things tend to be quite sturdy and well built.  

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I LOVE religious pamphlets and will gladly accept them from anyone who doesn't then proceed to engage me in extended conversation. I have quite the collection, including some that my grandmother collected back in the day. I think they're incredibly funny, so I keep them around to read for entertainment now and then. I even got one a year or so ago that tried to convince me that evolution was a sham. I chuckled and put it in the box with the others. XP  

[Aaron Lee Morrison]

Avoir Le Retour...

Similar to what someone else said, if I don't know the person, I'll either smile and say no, or I'll ignore them. If I know the person, I'll take it, and discard it as soon as they are out of my sight.

...Les Adieux

 

[hagane danbira]

I'd love to give them a pamphlet for FSMism or something about the IPU, but unfortunetly the first costs a pretty penny (I'm so poor, my bologna doesn't have a first name), and the latter doesn't exist.  

[DivineBlindSoul]

I know I've mentioned this in a different thread but when I worked at Home Depot I was approached by at least three customers who were looking to save me. I only had a problem with one of the people. This guy would not leave me alone, I gave up trying to be nice and told him to get out of the store, he told me that he would tell my manager that I was being rude and I hit the fan. I was like, "I'm being rude?! You're the one who is trying to convert me and give me worthless pamphlets while I am working. I'm at work! Don't you think you could try and convert people elsewhere!? People who aren't on the clock and people who give a damn about what you are saying?! I am fine the way I am and if you don't leave me alone I will go to my manager and tell him to have you escorted out of the building."

Something very close to that. I don't actually know if my manager would have done anything but that guy thought that he would and took off. A friend of mine who worked their gave me props after staring mouth agape at me for a minute. I find that some people don't take the hint unless you give in and be angry. Ugh..that guy still pisses me off. Seriously. While I'm at work?! Who does that!?  

[JadeDragonSoul]

I've gotten two Jehovah's Witness booklets and a Chick pamphlet on how evolution is false. I still have them for the lols. cool