They started by making comments about our happy little family and we quickly corrected them: none of us were related and none of us lived in that house. We conceded happy though. They swallowed their confusion, but not for long, my friend led them on a very merry chase through the Bible, a copy of which he had handy. By the time they left they looked very confused indeed!

I couldn’t keep a straight face. I said something like, “I apologize for laughing, but I’m about 40 years older than you boys. I just can’t think of you as elders.”

Things went downhill for them from there. I told them that I had owned a copy of the Book of Mormon for more than 40 years and had read it (all true, btw). They asked if I had any questions, and I assured them I did not. Then I sent them on their way.

I’m sorry but that 30+ year-old retort was perfect!

Hey, the JW’s came knocking uninvited, as they do in every neighborhood. And some of them are so zealous, it’s hard to get rid of them.

I have no compassion for the adults; however, the little kids are being brainwashed into a cult as far as I can tell. Then again, in this brave new world, there are worse things to be, I suppose, than a JW - say a Mormon teenage girl imprisoned in a polygamist compound near Eldorado, Texas.

When I was a teenager and the JW’s would come to our front door, I always answered that we were atheists and could I give them some of our publications? That usually did the trick.

Truth is, I am an atheist and have been since about age 8 or so. (Only I didn’t exactly know the word for a nonbeliever at that age.)

And Beaumont without AC? Sheesh. Might take more than a liter of Black Jack to get me to sleep in that steam bath. Though, I did it plenty when I was a kid - no AC and living in Texas *grin*.

I used to live on the Texas coast - in Port O’Connor. At night in the summertime, the breeze off the bay was nice, though.