Finally getting back to this incident yesterday. Which I intentionally wrote up in a humous tone. It infuriates me because it's not remotely amusing when someone violates our privacy.
Can we really think about what it says about the culture of consent when it is a common sale technique to view a "No Soliciting" sign as encouragement to "try harder". This is exactly what the person did yesterday.
They told me they read the sign and understood what it meant. They then choose to not knock once, but to repeatedly knock on both the door and a window for several minutes. When they got the faintest inclination that I was really there, behind the blinds, they knocked all the more loudly.
They had decided that whatever the fuck they're selling is such a blisteringly good deal that it's absolutely fine for them to ignore the "NO" that is posted on our home. They looked at the "No Soliciting" sign and kept knocking on the house until they got a reply.
How is this anything other than a violation of my consent?
My house has a clear "NO" posted on it and the person that "no" is directed at willfully ignores it, pushing, and pushing, to try and turn it into a "yes'. This a an incredibly common technique that's encouraged in sales positions.
This absolutely perpetuates that any "no" is an invitation to push until it turns into a "yes'.
That my friends is Rape Culture, plain and simple.
Which is why salespersons take their chances when they ignore the "No Soliciting" sign on our home.
At best, I'll channel the disapproving, disappointed air I've seen utilized by educators and librarians to small humans. I will make them read the sign aloud and explain to me what it means. I'll ask patiently if they missed the sign.
This is, of course, a trick. The only possible right choice they can make is to say that they didn't see the sign, apologize, and back away from the home quickly.
If they own up to reading, understanding, and ignoring the sign, there's a very good chance that they get The Kraken unless they very quickly and sincerely start apologizing and GTFO our property.
