How to deal with pesky street recruiters

[pftest]

I used to stay polite to these kids. Until one day i was walking down the street and one of them asked me if i care about poor children, i said no and kept walking, and the girl said "thats stupid". She surprised me so i didnt stop and complain. Now i no longer feel an obligation to stay polite them anymore.

Here are some of the things i do:

1. I say "im a bad person". This is what i do most often.
2. I ask a counterquestion, anything i want to know at that moment (where is the nearest ATM?)
3. If I am bored and don't have anything better to do, i will (if it is a girl) have a discussion about the state of the world, that the real problem is overpopulation and that she is naive and should donate her own salary. If it is a guy and i don't like him i explain that I am going home to have sex. Does he think I am going to waste my time with him?

 

[reenmachine]

Frankly I think they see in my face that it's a waste of time.If they continue I just tell them to **** off.I know they're just doing their job but if you don't send a strong negative signal right away the conversation will never end with these guys.

 

[daveyrocket]

For starters, I just keep walking and don't break my pace for them.

If I have to give a response, it's often "Not Interested." And if they follow up with "but you don't even know..." then I respond with "Don't care." I don't even use complete sentences, just the bare minimum of words to let them know they are wasting my time.

If I feel like being nicer, I've found "not today" to be a pretty effective response. It seems to imbue them with false hope that I might be more responsive tomorrow. That's total crap of course, but it's almost as if humans have a natural or programmed response of patience when getting a "not right now" type of statement, and it let's them avoid having to feel like they've just been rejected and they need to try to fix the situation. Don't use this one on people who come to your door though, because they might be back tomorrow!

Funny story, I've noticed lately there's a bunch of solicitors outside the supermarkets near my house, and just yesterday when I went the supermarket had put up a big sign saying "These solicitors are here without our permission. We've asked them to leave. We recommend that you don't encourage their presence by contributing to their causes." They're still there, but they've been a lot less aggressive lately.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I ignore anyone who approaches me on the street. I will literally pretend I can't hear or see them. If it's obvious I did hear or see them, I will shake my head "no" and continue walking.

This is impolite, surely. But it was impolite of them to interrupt my business to scam me out of money.

 

[ZombieFeynman]

Bark and growl like a mad dog at them.

If this doesn't work make inane clucking noises and yell incoherently.

70% of the time it works every time.

 

[Monique]

Another strategy: being too busy to go shopping Since starting this thread, a month ago, I haven't had time to visit my bakery..

 

[Borg]

I'm feeling your pain Monique. I just had to explain that I wasn't interested for the second day in a row to the same door to door salesman. He was trying to engage me in a conversation about my alarm system. I wasn't nearly as polite today. I explained that I don't do business with unknown people who call or knock on my door and I certainly don't discuss my home security with them. He was still talking as I closed the door in his face.

 

[Aero51]

Be a total jerk. It works for me down here in Raleigh with all the pan handlers. When they come up to me I just say austerely "Im not giving you any money" before they speak and then walk away.

 

[cristo]

I normally just keep walking past and say something like "sorry, no today" or "I'm in a rush". If you spot them far enough in the distance you can also just pull out your phone and fake a conversation.

 

[chiro]

Ask them to answer the following question:

"If you were on your way to something important like getting food, picking up your kids, going to work, sorting out your car getting fixed, paying your insurance, or making sure those bills are paid and someone walked up to you demanding that you should drop everything just to satisfy someones idea or righteousness, how would you react?"

You could also tell them that when people want something or want to do something, they can usually figure it out themselves rather than needing a constant tour guide to do it for them.

 

[Lisa!]

Ask them to lend you some money!

 

[Viracocha]

Have some fun with it. You could curse them out, yell at them, or just completely ignore them. Ignoring them is the most fun, especially if they get all worked up and get angry at you for ignoring them.

 

[OmCheeto]

This reminds me a bit of running into a Hare Krishna follower at the fair this year. Totally caught me off guard. I was surrounded by 15,000 hippies, who for 22 years had never bothered me for anything, and then, BAM! This person had the answer to everything, for a price... I ran away.

But I do have two complimentary books that I can send anyone, for free, not including shipping and handling...

 

[edward]

This reminds me a bit of running into a Hare Krishna follower at the fair this year. Totally caught me off guard. I was surrounded by 15,000 hippies, who for 22 years had never bothered me for anything, and then, BAM! This person had the answer to everything, for a price... I ran away.

But I do have two complimentary books that I can send anyone, for free, not including shipping and handling...

Where did you say that fair was? I used to pay those guys to quit beating the blasted drum.

Not that there is anything wrong about playing a drum.

http://krishnastore.com/mridanga-drum-tilak-h-krishna-1464.html

 

[jhae2.718]

I usually wear a pair of headphones when I walk (either with music or just disconnected) which allows me to pretend I can't hear them.

If I am at home I just am very quiet and pretend I am not home until they go away.

I am not a people person.

 

[Borg]

This reminds me a bit of running into a Hare Krishna follower at the fair this year. Totally caught me off guard. I was surrounded by 15,000 hippies, who for 22 years had never bothered me for anything, and then, BAM! This person had the answer to everything, for a price... I ran away.

But I do have two complimentary books that I can send anyone, for free, not including shipping and handling...

This reminded me of one time when I was stuck in an airport overnight waiting for a flight. I had finally figured out how to fall asleep across three very uncomfortable chairs with unmovable arms when some religious nut job decided that I needed to be woken up and told how I could be saved. I am not too polite when I don't get my sleep and I was very tired at that point. I told him that if he came near me again, I would kill him. I guess that I got the message across because he didn't come back.

 

[Pythagorean]

Be a total jerk. It works for me down here in Raleigh with all the pan handlers. When they come up to me I just say austerely "Im not giving you any money" before they speak and then walk away.

Pretty much. No reason to make up an elaborate evacuation strategy. Just tell them no and then ignore them and keep walking.

 

[DennisN]

Ask them to lend you some money!

:thumbs:

I'm usually polite and just say "no thanks", but sometimes I say "que?" or "je ne comprends pas". Next time I think I will try using sign language. This is "no" in sign language:

 

[Chronos]

I hang up after I hear the hiss of a teleprompter. On the street, I simply ignore them. Trust me, they will get the message. Problem solved.