Just met a woman from Champagne, Illinois who is here getting medical treatment at a local hospital.  She was very nice and kept repeating my name – she said she’d had a head injury but didn’t say how long ago.  I wasn’t bothered by it, I meet a lot of people who are just as bad at names as I am.

What got me was this woman who has only just met me, starts asking me about my religious affiliation.  She asks “So are you a Christian? Are you a Catholic?Are you a Muslim?”  I’m not sure what other religion she mentioned after that except that she was focusing on mainstream religions because I was thrown by her asking if I was a Christian or if I was Catholic.  Since when are Catholics not considered Christians??

Not only is she standing well inside my personal space, but she’s asking questions about something I don’t discuss with complete strangers, not on purpose anyway.  So with her smiling at me from less than two feet away and clearly expecting an answer, I tell her I’m non-traditional.  The smile wavers just a tiny bit and then, she ends the conversation, heading off to the store.  I went on my own way with a little smile of my own.

Tell anyone with a religious bent looking for converts that you’re non-traditional, and they don’t know how to react.  They are especially thrown when you don’t choose to elaborate, and they don’t want to offend by throwing out the name of any of the many pagan religions being practiced today – just in case you aren’t a member of one of them.

I get a chuckle out of it, and I get left alone.  I consider asking me what religion I practice when you first meet me to be quite rude and intrusive.  Religion is a personal thing to my way of thinking, and you don’t ask strangers personal questions like that.

Just thought I’d share that with you – take it any way you like. 🙂

See you on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver – Spring is on it’s way!