Turning the tables on a market survey call

At 7:30pm I received a call from a market survey company asking if I would mind doing a 10 minute survey. I was in the middle of putting my 3 year old to bed and told her so. Could she call back later when it was more convenient? Normally I just say I don’t want to participate but this time for some reason I said it would be more convenient 30 minutes later at 8pm.

Before she called back the idea popped into my head that when she called backed I’d ask her if she’d mind if I asked her some questions first. I must have read somewhere that this is what someone did. I can’t imagine it being an original idea.

Anyway, when the time came and this girl dutifully called back and I asked her if it was o.k to ask her some questions first. I said that I was a missionary and I would like to find out what people think about Christianity. I could register the slight surprise in her voice but she agreed. The conversation went something like this.

Rich: “Are you religious at all?”
Girl: “No. Not at all”
Rich: “What do you think about Christians and Christianity”
Girl: “I don’t really know much at all”
Rich: “Oh, that’s surprising. Can I ask how old you are?”

And so the conversation went on for a little longer. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting her to be so non-religious and know so little about Christianity. She was only 26 years old from Tasmania. I’ve heard that Western culture is becoming more and more post-Christian but this was my first experience of someone who knew so little about Christianity (I didn’t sense any dishonesty from her part).

Note to self: Prepare a better set of questions for those know nothing about Christianity.

N.B. Market survey was about the upcoming byelection in our area and about my voting preferences. What did I think about Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbell and lots of names I didn't know. It wasn't 10 minutes though, more like 20.