My first house was in a neighborhood that caught a lot of religious solicitation.
This is code for- It was a crappy neighborhood.
two stories
1.There was one guy (a JW) who used to come around as I was working in the driveway. He'd always complement how hard I was working splitting firewood/ etc. I was younger then, and would play with it a bit.
One day he walked by, and was really bummed out. He confided in me being a JW and walking around like that wasn't an easy task, but thats what he felt he was required to do.. he said something like "Do you think I enjoy doing this on my time off?!?!"
It was the most profound and educational moment of his efforts. Gave me an idea of where he was really coming from.
2. I taught part time at a dental school which accepted a bunch of out of state mormons from Utah. One day, I was with an old friend, discussing old friend stuff, when two mormons came up and wanted to discuss mormon stuff. Being a little older and more cynical, I told them what I thought of the subject in a very direct and get off my lawn way. Proselytizers were a dime a dozen in this neighborhood. Nothing personal.
My time with my old friend was more important. Just because my house was in a target area for this type of activity didn't mean I owed them anything. Knowing if I gave them an inch, they would take a mile, and either carry on or return at a later date, I told them my views on the world. They politely left. It still pissed me off a bit because my friend and I didn't really discuss religion, and the mormons forced my thoughts out into the open.
My friend, a devoutly religious person remained silent. As for the Mormons, turns out, they were two students from my class.
Oh well.
And on that subject- moving to the country has reduced these encounters to ZERO. You simply don't walk up to houses out here without a good reason. I've never looked back.