I was just sitting here eating my lunch, and a man in full fatigues...

[Vektor]

...knocked on my door.

He was an Army recruiter.

I saw his big black car pull up to my house and he got out in full camo, and all I felt was fear. Like someone was "coming for me." A few weeks ago, they had called my house. The man calling asked if I was still in school, and my husband told him I had a year left of my academic program. He asked what I was studying.

I realize I should have answered the door and told him I was not interested and maybe told him that I did not support this administration, would never serve under GWB and please don't come back.

But, my first instinct when I saw him was fear. I did not want to talk to him, I did not want to see him, and I felt a lump in my throat knowing that this guy was just trying to do his job under a totally inept commander in thief and I could not bring myself to talk to him. I really did not know that the hell to say, and yes, truth be known, I felt afraid of him.

I left the room, and my husband answered the door.

He said the guy was nice enough, but that he told him that I "wasn't interested" and the recruiter said "Ok, that's fine." and left.

He didn't leave the recruitment materials.

I feel a little bit sick, to tell the truth.

Is it normal for the military recruiters to knock on your door with no prior contact, and try to recruit you right there on your doorstep?

[CoffeeCat]

1. Yikes...

I've never heard of recruiting being done in this in-your-face way. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It sounds a bit over the top, if you ask me.

What comes to my mind is desperation. This misAdministration has screwed up recruiting, because fewer people are willing to die for horrendous lies. America does not trust BushCo to make sound military and geopolitical decisions. They fear what they will do next.

I imagine that the military is forced to recruit more aggressively. Maybe this in-home visit is a by-product of low military recruiting.

I hear you---this would have scared me too. For many reasons.

[Vektor]

5. I have never been comfortable with people coming to my door.

Whether they are peddling religion or selling something. It just makes me feel uneasy. This was particularly strange.

[noamnety]

7. I just don't open my door to people I don't know

Kind of like having caller ID, I don't feel obligated to let a person into my life just because they've decided they want me to make time for them.

[Vektor]

10. I know, I really don't either.

Usually, I just don't answer, but my husband is a really kind person who always opens the door, greets the person, and politely says "no thank you" if he isn't interested. Even though we are not Jehovah's Witnesses, he answers the door to then, talks to them and accepts their literature.

We usually have about a zillion magazines, candy bars, copies of "The Watchtower" and boxes of Girl Scout cookies, because he is just way too nice.

I am not "un-nice," but as a woman, I am highly reluctant to open the door to anyone I don't know.

[renate]

20. We NEVER open the door to anyone we don't know

We ask our friends--kids and adults both--to use our "special knock" with a specific rhythm, and we'll open the door only if they use it.

Saves a lot of time trying to get rid of salespeople--and of course it's much safer, too.

[lumpy]

18. In your face? Oh yes.

Back in the 80s we had a recruiter constantly calling my son on the phone and coming to the door and generally making a pest of himself. The son got to the point of ducking from him. Finally I answered the door and told the little twerp essentially to bug off, that the kid wasn't interested, I wasn't interested and quit to harrassing us. Seemed to do the trick.

[jillan]

2. Omg Vek - that's awful!

They must be getting pretty desperate if they have to
go door to door.

I would have freaked too. I probably would have told them to stay far away from me.


But at the same time, you gotta feel sorry for the guy that has to knock on doors.

[Vektor]

6. I did.

I was a bit afraid of him, but I felt sorry for him too. It must really suck to have to serve under such an inept "President."

[lumpy]

19. I don't care for pimps.

Whether they are in uniform or not.

[babylonsister]

3. So much for recruitment supposedly being up. I'm sorry you had

to deal with that, Vektor. I'm sure he would have frightened me as well.

[Minnesota Libra]

4. It is when the military can't fulfill recruitment requirements and of.....

.....course the WH Idiot lets them do it too.:spank:

[pnwmom]

8. I'm surprised they were going after you, not your husband. How did

they know about you, since you didn't have to register? Did your school give them your info?

I'm with you. It sounds scary.

[Vektor]

Yes - I am a current student, so they got my name from the college.

originally they called, and started asking about my schooling - they already knew what college I attend.

[Breeze54]

26. That explains it!! Thanks for the update. n/t

[0007]

9. A Navy recruiter went absolutely ballistic when my son said

at first he'd join the Navy and then backed out at the last minute. And this was in the late 70's.

[TahitiNut]

11. WTF? My first answer would be "It's none of your damn business!"

If someone arrives uninvited on my doorstep and asks me any questions whatsoever, particularly personal questions, I tell them to leave immediately. I don't give a damned who it is. If they're not gone in about 10 seconds, I call the police.

[LiberalEsto]

12. When my older daughter was a HS senior

the local Army recruiting office called her to the point of harassment. In frustration, I told the guy to stop calling and hung up, and then HE called back and accused ME of being unpatriotic and harassing a Genuine U.S. Military Recruiter.

I fired off a letter to our Congressman, Chris Van Hollen, and the harassment ended. Our younger daughter didn't get the harassment treatment.

[ProSense]

13. Survey says

No!

If it's time for President Bush to nominate someone for a position, it's time to hide our mothers. For, indeed, if there is one thing that is actually steady and true in the topsy-turvy landscape of the raped and desecrated body politic, it is that George Bush will select ...

[jillan]

14. Another story of recruitement.

My daughter, 18, special needs but in public school, came home today
with a Marine's sticker on her name badge! grrrrrrr....

Guess they were recruiting at the local High School today.

Sad for the recruiters to be so desperate that they have to look for kids to enlist, but infuriating, especially when they put a sticker on a child with special needs.

[Vektor]

15. Man alive.

And it really is creepy to have someone actively try to recruit you.

[Ian David]

16. Tell them to recruit The Young Republicans! n/t

[elehhhhna]

17. 2 of them just left w/ my next door neighbor. She's starting boot camp.

[Breeze54]

21. I think you should've

asked him how he got your name and address??? Aren't you curious?
That would frighten me more than them showing up!!
I mean, did they have your name from high school or something? :shrug:
That's sounds bizarre to me!
They better not show up at my door!!
Ever!!!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

22. Just showed up at your house

uninvited? That's creepy. Glad you weren't home alone.
Back in the old days, just before I graduated college I got letters from the Army, Navy and Air Force. I actually invited a woman from the Navy to my dorm to talk about opportunities. Wasn't really serious (I don't like taking orders, so maybe a service career would have been a bad move) but we had a good conversation about what the Navy had to offer. Certainly no pressure or anything and never heard from them again. But then, that was back when...

[gratuitous]

23. We have a story going here in Oregon

An autistic 18-year-old kid named Jared Guinther was approached by a recruiter in the local mall (about 20 blocks down the street from me). Jared's high functioning and from the pictures in the paper looks pretty normal, but autism is an automatic "no." The recruiting office, however, didn't bother doing a medical check or contact the boy's parents, who would have told them that this warm body wasn't suitable for service.

The next thing his parents knew, Jared was signed up and is slated for entry into the Army in August. The parents have tried what they could with the recruiters and the Army, and finally went to the local paper, which ran the story on the front page Sunday. The Army is now saying that they will "investigate" the situation.

I'm hoping that Jared will be released from his commitment, and that the recruiters will be looking for other employment, but I'll settle for Jared being released from his commitment.

[Breeze54]

25. He was released. n/t

[heartofthesiskiyou]

24. two things

You need a no trespassing sign on both the front and rear entrances to your property.

Call 911 if ANYONE you don't know crosses your property line once posted. Even if it's a person in a police uniform, call 911. If someone in a military uniform crosses my no trespassing sign I will expect him to be arested when the cops get there. I would hold him at bay until law enforcement arrived. In a loud vioce with command infliction, I would order him, "Place your ID on the ground and take five slow steps to the rear". If the officer doesn't arrest him throw the cop on the pile. I would be speaking the distric attorney on an equal protection claim.

A few of these kinds of encounters and the "door to door" model of recruitment will cease in your whole region of that local office, thus you would be helping to protect your niebors children.

[MissMarple]

27. A "No Soliciting" sign might work.

One would certainly hope. They used to just call and show up at college/career day at high school. A really cute one from the Navy actually got my daughter to go down to their office and take a written aptitude test. Her score must have been off their charts. Three cute guys did their best to get her to sign up. Well, she did go to a second tier private college, graduated, and is getting a second bachelors in microbiology. But they called here for over two years. That's when they really understood she was doing quite well at school, going to graduate, and would not be deterred. But, in all truth, they were very polite. They had just kept her on their follow up list. It's better for all of us that she stay in school. She seems to like virology. ;)