I don’t really understand what “Oh snap” means, even though I have managed to put it into the xword a number of times. But I kinda snapped last night.

I hate door-to-door solicitors and I especially hate them at 8:52 PM. Last night the doorbell rang at that time. I was in my nightshirt (newly clean and smelling like Tide Pods) and a long skirt. My front door was closed and all of the lights were off except for the ambient twinkle-lights. Of course, on the flip side of that, the sun had not yet set so it was pretty bright outside. Still.

I didn’t want to open the door, not knowing who was on the other side, so I asked through the door. (I have had some weird people come to the door over the years.) Oh sigh, it was an “intern” from a clean water organization that has been sending idealistic young adult “interns” around soliciting money since forever. She was female and sounded young, so I opened the door. (But not without a lot of difficulty because our front door gets STUCK when it is hot and humid around here. I can kick it in from the outside but I can’t always pull it open from the inside.)

There was a beautiful, nice, polite young woman on my porch. Going door-to-door alone. I usually just say, “You’re preaching to the choir and no thank you.” But then I snapped. I said that I thought it was a little late to be soliciting. She agreed but said that she couldn’t end her “shift” until 9:00. Then, because I genuinely liked her, I told her that there are better “jobs” out there. I felt a bit bad for saying that so I added that I felt like I had to say it because I was a mom. She replied that her own mom had said the same thing to her.

I don’t like to have solicitors at my door at ANY time but I don’t blame this young woman. I think that this “clean water” org is exploiting young idealistic people. I got the impression that she was trying to follow whatever “rules” had been given to her and wasn’t going to quit until she had earned her pay (if she is indeed getting paid). I bet there are plenty of other “interns” who quit well before 9:00 and head out to the bar.

Going door-to-door alone is dangerous even in my knock-on-wood “safe” neighborhood and I am uncomfortable with any organization that employs young people to do it, especially if they are doing it alone. They are exploiting these young adults and I’m not even sure for what purpose. I am highly unlikely to hand money to anyone who rings my doorbell at any time of the day, not to mention lunge at me in the Plum Market parking lot. If you want to utilize low (or no?) pay “interns”, find them something meaningful to do that will benefit your org while enriching their own experience.

Okay, I am done…

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