Ding-Dong. The sound of the doorbell startles me a bit, because I don’t hear it often.

“I’m not expecting any company. At least not until after midnight when Mom and Dad will be getting into town,” I think to myself, getting out of my comfy leather office chair. “I wonder who it is.”

I walk to the door and realize it must not be anyone I know. If it were, I would have heard the door open by now, because all of my friends walk right in. “Maybe it’s a cute neighbor.”

I open the door to find a man wearing a red polo shirt and navy blue shorts. He is holding a very small black clipboard and a white towel. He’s already walking away from the door and down the carport, but makes a quick stop as he hears the creaking hinges.

“I stopped by to see if dinner is ready,” he says.

I give him a blank look, trying to communicate, “What the fuck?” without actually saying it.

He asks “Did you eat yet?”

“Yeah, I already ate.”

The man says something else, but I’m not really paying attention, because I just want him to go away. He walks to my door and pulls out a small blue pamphlet with yellow lettering. Instinctively, I open the door and take it. I look at the front, very confused. I begin to realize what is going on. This stranger on my doorstep takes a pen from the clipboard and marks a bunch of lines on the towel. As he does this, he speaks some more jibberish, or what seems like it, because I simply don’t care.

Then, out of his back pocket he pulls a spray bottle, squirts a few times on the towel and scrubs through the pen marks. It must be magic (or so he wants me to think), because this part of the towel is clean again.

I quickly hand the pamplet back to him, proclaiming “I’m not interested.” I’ve never bought something from a door-to-door salesman, and today will not be the first time.

As I close the door, he continues his pitch. “It’s great for cleaning your car. Around the tires…”

I journey back to my computer desk and return to catching up on a few blogs. All I can think is “Everyone has something for sell.”