Silent Witness

(It’s a normal Saturday morning when I hear the doorbell ring. I peek outside to see two women and a young girl standing at the door. One woman is rummaging through her purse and is holding a book.)

Me: “Who might you three be?”

(They don’t immediately react. Understandable; I tend to be a bit soft-spoken so them not hearing me isn’t impossible. Thankfully, the girl sees me.)

Girl: “There’s a woman at the door.”

Woman #1: *stops looking through her purse and looks up at me* “Hello!”

Me: “Who are you?”

Woman #1: “We’re volunteers at the local church. We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses and we were wondering if you’d be willing to listen to our scriptures—”

(At this point, I’m wondering what measures I might have to take to get them to leave, having heard all sorts of stories about how persistent they can be.)

Me: “No, thanks.”

Woman #1: “Okay, have a good day!”

(They all leave. I stand there for a few seconds gob-smacked at the fact that that’s all it took.)