This won't be that insightful. It is just something that happened.
Tracy and I were in the living room yesterday. We weren't doing anything really, just watching TV. Someone knocked on the door. I didn't feel any need to answer. That is a skill I learned over the years. I am quite happy not engaging with people at times. Bennet, however, always on the prowl for his friend to come over and take him away from his mundane family, had to look out the window.
"I don't know who they are."
Dang it. That means Tracy will get up. I was hoping she hadn't heard their announcement of their presence. If it wasn't for the movement I saw through the window, I wouldn't have known anyone had knocked.
"Don't do it. And I don't want any." is my usual statement in situations like this.
Tracy looked out the window and walked back to her chair, "I don't want to talk with them."
"Why, who is it?"
"I don't know. Two guys with clipboards. I don't want to talk to anyone with a clipboard."
If I ever do see the clipboard and answer the door, my usual first sentence is, "Why didn't you honor the sign (pointing to the no soliciting sign) and not bother me?" Followed by "I won't buy anything from you because you didn't honor my wishes the first time." Yeah, I'm kinda harsh considering I spent two years knocking on doors for my religious mission. I guess I have sympathy for people doing it for their beliefs, but not for sales.
Hayden came in and asked, "Was our house invaded by Mormons?"
Tracy laughed and I looked at her and asked, "Is he self-aware at all?"
I just ruminated on it for a bit. If it wasn't for being triggered by my own PTSD with my mission, Hayden might have been doing his own invading. He was 18. That is the age they send missionaries out. Instead, he was enjoying his life, his car, and the freedom that being an adult brings.
Some missionaries had a great time. I didn't. As my own children were growing and as we were still members of the Mormon church, I didn't know how to bring that up with anyone as they neared the age when the church puts on the pressure to go on missions. It turns out, my faith crumbled away as Hayden turned 12 and eventually the church did things that drove the rest of the family away from it. It removed a lot of obligation from me to force the kids to attend something they clearly did not enjoy, as they told us later for confirmation. Aside from Hayden, they had never passed into the "belief" phase with church so they never had that sense of betrayal to deal with. Hayden never believed and was vocal about it, so I didn't have his entire teen years to try and push him to conformity. I say that knowing I wouldn't anyway. My parents didn't push me into religion, at least the level I let myself become involved, and I wouldn't push my own kids. My reasons for belief are complex and personal.
So my children don't have to invade other's homes. I'm okay with that.
Tracy and I were in the living room yesterday. We weren't doing anything really, just watching TV. Someone knocked on the door. I didn't feel any need to answer. That is a skill I learned over the years. I am quite happy not engaging with people at times. Bennet, however, always on the prowl for his friend to come over and take him away from his mundane family, had to look out the window.
"I don't know who they are."
Dang it. That means Tracy will get up. I was hoping she hadn't heard their announcement of their presence. If it wasn't for the movement I saw through the window, I wouldn't have known anyone had knocked.
"Don't do it. And I don't want any." is my usual statement in situations like this.
Tracy looked out the window and walked back to her chair, "I don't want to talk with them."
"Why, who is it?"
"I don't know. Two guys with clipboards. I don't want to talk to anyone with a clipboard."
If I ever do see the clipboard and answer the door, my usual first sentence is, "Why didn't you honor the sign (pointing to the no soliciting sign) and not bother me?" Followed by "I won't buy anything from you because you didn't honor my wishes the first time." Yeah, I'm kinda harsh considering I spent two years knocking on doors for my religious mission. I guess I have sympathy for people doing it for their beliefs, but not for sales.
Hayden came in and asked, "Was our house invaded by Mormons?"
Tracy laughed and I looked at her and asked, "Is he self-aware at all?"
I just ruminated on it for a bit. If it wasn't for being triggered by my own PTSD with my mission, Hayden might have been doing his own invading. He was 18. That is the age they send missionaries out. Instead, he was enjoying his life, his car, and the freedom that being an adult brings.
Some missionaries had a great time. I didn't. As my own children were growing and as we were still members of the Mormon church, I didn't know how to bring that up with anyone as they neared the age when the church puts on the pressure to go on missions. It turns out, my faith crumbled away as Hayden turned 12 and eventually the church did things that drove the rest of the family away from it. It removed a lot of obligation from me to force the kids to attend something they clearly did not enjoy, as they told us later for confirmation. Aside from Hayden, they had never passed into the "belief" phase with church so they never had that sense of betrayal to deal with. Hayden never believed and was vocal about it, so I didn't have his entire teen years to try and push him to conformity. I say that knowing I wouldn't anyway. My parents didn't push me into religion, at least the level I let myself become involved, and I wouldn't push my own kids. My reasons for belief are complex and personal.
So my children don't have to invade other's homes. I'm okay with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment