How to say no to street sellers

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I think I know what you mean, I couldn't wipe that shy smile out of my face and anyone with such attention would just melt me, what's to do? But now I am just a mean angry dissatisfied misanthrope. Now I gag when others smile and come anywhere near me. Employ yourself this attitude at times

Im blunt with everyone to say the least. I can easily blame it on the culture and attitude of the region I am from. Coal region culture = blunt to everyone, but its not taken seriously. I don't feel like I have to change that either. If people get all pissy over it, its their fault for letting it get to them. Basically you can liken the culture to a mix of German and Irish, and throw in the Italian way of treating family and friends. Sums up as a bunch of as*holes, but we all still care about family and friends.

A lot of it stems from a strong distrust of anyone coming to ask me anything. Anyone who does that immediately gets rejected.

I have ran into these in my town. I just keep on walking and shake my head. I do not stop. I will even run into them at the mall who stand in the mallway with their booth.

In Paris a guy followed after me trying to sell me something and I just kept on walking. That is harassment. Then he gave up when I walked too far away from where he was selling.

Honestly if I kept running into these, people I would get more and more aggressive if they kept harassing me because my anger would build up. I would probably start shoving them or knocking stuff out of their hands or throwing it on the ground to show them. If they want to call the police, go ahead, I would tell the police they were harassing me so I had to defend myself and harassment is against the law. If they can file charges on me I will do the same for them for harassment.

Exactly

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Last edited by nat4200 on 19 Apr 2012, 5:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

I do well timed, rapid accelerations in the way I walk past the seller before they've even begun to look at me. This way I don't get approached in the first place. Don't be ashamed to be blunt in your dealings with them, because they are probably used to it from 9 out of 10 people.

Omg I hadn't considered this at all! I must look very steady in the way I walk, and easy to predict. I can imaging this unexpected movements method could help a lot - maybe even darting to a shop doorway across the street if I feel that I am being homed in on, then just walking past it when the canvasser has already started to look for somebody new.

@nat4200: that is a great list. I speak in sort of run-on sentences, leaving the second half unspoken as a kind of fishing hook for somebody to pick up conversation with me. It's not a conscious action, and works well for people who I do want to talk to - less so for those I don't. While I can't really stop that, I could memorise phrases to make my speech quite short and sharp. Maybe "no thanks" with a head shake instead of "no thank you", as it reduces a syllable.

One bit where I often get reeled in is my invariable apology when they make their "sad puppy" face in response to me saying no. I should probably practice what I say after the initial declining.

It's because I face them all the time, and it's like someone tapping your shoulder...eventually you get fed up and don't care.

Just keep walking and don't make eye contact i faced this quite a lot so i am used to it really.

No thanks, I don't know what I'd do with a street if I had one.

The other side to it is that I am that defensive that even if people are giving me positive things, I say 'no' reflexively. Once, a lovely girl came up to give me chocolate. I said "no thanks" even though I wouldn't have minded actually. I am on guard any time anyone comes up to me.

I'm like that with hire car companies too - I say 'no' to every single one until I've made up my mind.

I just shake my head and they know I'm not interested. Though in retrospect, if they bother people overhere after they say no they usually get punched in the face.

I'm usually very good at avoiding these people; the trick is to not make eye contact, just look past them in the direction you're walking.

Although one time I did get snagged because a girl greeted me with a wave and a "Hey!" and given that I sometimes fail to recognize faces, I thought "oh crap I don't remember her play along until I can figure it out." Pretty good tactic, actually.

Avoiding eye contact is good. Works a treat here in Australia. Not so in Nepal. I found the trick there when I heard a street seller ask a tourist, "Just looking?". He replied, "Just walking", and did just that. In Thailand, I thought I'd stumbled on a great idea. When they approached me, I just ran off like a mad man. Thing is, they followed me laughing! So, that doesn't work too well unless you can out run them.

If a chugger pulls me up, I usually say something polite like "I do apologise, but I'm very busy" or "I'm late for an appointment" etc. Sometimes if they are forceful, they say stuff like "It'll only take a second" or something like that, and they seem to keep me there for some time before I say either "No" or "I'm not interested in giving out my details" or something along those lines. Sometimes they'll look really disappointed if I say that I'm not interested, which, frankly, I'm not. There was this one guy who, as I walked away, acted like he'd just been mugged, rejected, etc.