Leaving in a rush

A man came to the front door this afternoon. Usually, the only people who come to the front door are delivery men or salespeople. I opened the door to be greeted by a tall imposing man, of large build but casual dress. In his hand were two large photograph frames. I cannot recall the initial greeting but the moment he said he was sure I would be delighted to have this meeting, or something like that, I cringed. I was 110% sure he was selling photographs taken from an annoying light aircraft that buzzed round and round and round a few weeks ago.

“It is an amazing opportunity.”

“The house is set well in the image, and you can see the whole village. “ (which you couldn’t)

“Not happened since 1964” (Oh really? Who are you kidding!)

Now you will have surmised that we do not like people taking photos of our home from the sky, and we consider it rather an invasion of our privacy. So the poor chap did not stand a chance. I very politely said that we would not be interested in buying his image – have you ever seen a confident 6 foot -something man suddenly appear crestfallen? He quickly regained himself and showed me the images (which I felt were over saturated and rather poor) and again I said we did not want to buy. “Are you the owner of the house?” Feeling I had a great “get-out-of-jail” card here I truthfully replied that no, I was not the owner (even if my husband is the owner; I do hide behind this distinction on occasions).

Him - “Was it possible to show them to the owners?” Me – “No, it wasn’t convenient” Him – “When will the owners be back and I can return” Me – “I am sure that we do not want to buy one. But if you have a card in your pocket, I will pass on the message and tell them of your visit?” Him – “Yes. Are you sure you don’t want to buy one? I won’t get any commission if it goes through the office” (poor man must have thought he still stood a chance of a sale)

At that point the penny dropped. I’m not sure he said goodbye - I hope I did, - and I shut the door not watching him go. It was only later when I walked Hector that I noticed that he must have left in a rush. And probably not in a good mood.