Yesterday, my sister-in-law and I made our afternoon walk and met an older model, red Suburban with 5 or 6 young men in it. We went on about our walk and after returning home were met by a neighbor (and friend) from down the way telling us another neighbor had been frightened by two young men insisting they wanted to come in her home and “practice their speaking and selling skills.” She finally convinced them she wanted no part of their magazines or their practices and finally got rid of them. She immediately called the sheriff’s department.

Those young men were walking towards our home as we were discussing the matter. They turned in the drive three doors down and we waited, watched and were amazed to see that neighbor let them in!.

What to do? We determined she was a grown woman and if she wanted to let strangers in her home, then it was her business. And besides that, those young men knew we had seen them go in.

After waiting several minutes, we finally saw the Deputy Sheriff’s car. We flagged him down and reported where the guys were. He promptly went down there, called them out of the home, looked at their ID’s, found out they both had prior arrests, told them they were frightening people with their selling tactics and advised them they should leave town.

He came back to inform us there was “nothing he could do” as our county had no ordinances against door-to-door solicitations and they had broken no laws. However, he did say for us to call our friends and neighbors to tell them NOT to let them in their doors. One of the scams the police departments are familiar with is for them to say they are selling magazines, take your personal checks for payments, wash them and fill in whatever amount they want in the fields. Or, they ask to use the restroom and prowl through your medicine cabinets. Before leaving, the Deputy said he would hang around town for a while and see what they did next.

To begin with, I’m not letting anyone in my personal space to sell me anything! And let me tell you, these guys were shady looking and a bit on the trashy side anyway, unkempt hair and teeth, you know the kind! I couldn’t believe the neighbor actually let them in until I saw that she wasn’t alone. No matter! I see or hear on the news all too frequently about entire families being murdered. Who’s to say what they had in their pockets?

This story is much longer as the two determined I had turned them in cause they saw me walking earlier and then talking to the Deputy. They were disrespectful when they walked past our driveway by saying in a smart-alecky manner, “they would have told us what they were doing if we had only asked”. The husband sent them on their way by telling them the best thing they could do was to head on down the road. The guy responded with something else and the husband told him he would kick their a**es on down the road if they didn’t leave on their own!

The Deputy’s final stop here was to inform us they were walking out of town and said they had been dropped here to sell magazines. They also told him their ride wouldn’t be back until 7:00 p.m. The Deputy informed them they were likely to get shot if they hung around after dark! I did tell him that Ed had threatened to kick their tails and the Deputy just laughed.

The lady that actually called in on them has grown children. When they heard of the incident, the cocky little suckers were still in town and the grown children confronted them. Told them they should leave and get real jobs! The “salesmen” responded with the fact they were tired of being harassed and this little town didn’t have very nice people in it. The lady’s son told them to “get out of town if they were tired of the harrassment!” The mouthpiece of the two also relayed our names and said that Ed had hit him. Liars!

I did tell the neighbor down from us that allowed them in that we had not reported them, but it wouldn’t have bothered me to do so had they treated me the way they had treated the first lady. After speaking with other people today, they were offensive to several here in town.

I’d say don’t show up here with anything but honorable intentions! We take care of our friends and neighbors and don’t appreciate the persistence of people trying to enter homes unwanted!

The bottom line and the reason for relaying this tale…. don’t, I mean DO NOT ever let strangers into your home for any reason! Even if they are legit, taking a chance is not worth it! If you want to purchase magazines, go to the store or order your subscriptions online!