Being Polite

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Let's go back to biblical times, 1823! - Book of Mormon (The Musical, duh...)

I went to the park with Mini.Chaos for band day to sit and relax and listen to music. He had a great little time there. Mini.Chaos loves when we clap for him, and every time a song would finish, a whole audience would applaud and he would go CRAZY happy. I presume he thought there were hundreds of people clapping for him.

On the walk home a couple of mormon missionaries were biking by and I smiled and said "hi," causing them to stop their bikes and say hi back. A brief awkward exchange followed.

"Have you ever talked with missionaries before?"

"Yeah. I hope you guys have a great afternoon." Start to resume walking.

"Well, do you have time now to talk with us?" Pause walking to be polite.

"Nope - I've got a baby to get home, I just wanted to wish you a good day." Start to resume walking.

"Okay, we'll maybe we could have your address. We could swing by a more convenient time."  Pause walking to be polite.

"No, sorry.  Thanks, have a great day." Start to resume walking.

"Well, is Christ in your home? We really would love a chat." Continuing walking away...

"Yep, Christ is in our home.  Have a great day!"

In general, I think the Mormon missions do a good thing, and every time I've talked with Mormon missionaries they have been nothing but nice and polite and a little bit pushy. So I always do want to say hello, wish them well, but rarely am I casually sitting somewhere with time on my hands just ready to start chatting.

So what is the best way to have a polite and brief conversion? Or to end the conversion politely without providing them my address or phone number.

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