Little old salesladies

It's been three times last week that little old ladies rang our doorbell, trying to peddle stuff door-to-door -- packaged meat floss, crackers and I can't remember what else. They all used the same approach, they shoved the goods through the gate at your face and launched into how buying the stuff would help them because their husbands were sick and couldn't work. And they were quite aggressive about it too.

Because their stories and methods were the same, L thinks they're part of a syndicate. He felt charitable when the first little old lady showed up and would have bought something but she annoyed him by shoving her product straight at his face and refusing to back down so he decided that he wasn't going to buy anything. He wised up when the second little old lady appeared, suspicious that her story was the same as the first.

I think he's probably right about the syndicate but I think it's more than just peddling stuff. How much are you going to get from selling packets of crackers? I think they make a note of which flats are empty. They all came in the daytime, on work days. We happened to be home since we don't have normal 9 to 5 hours. If they truly wanted to make a sale, they would come round in the evenings, when people are more likely to be home, just like what the Yakult ladies used to do, and they were the genuine stuff, polite and wearing uniforms.

Well, I hope these little old ladies report that this house is protected by two dogs. Well, one, actually. Rupert does not bark at strangers and will welcome anyone into the house. But if you didn't know how friendly he is, he can look fearsome with his black face and huge teeth. Queen looks like a cute teddy bear but she's the one who's a wonderful guard dog with a great vocal alarm. But she stops there, her tiny toothpick-like teeth won't scare anybody off.