No Thanks

Donna is still an active, practicing Mormon. She is a Cub Scout Den Leader in her ward. At a dutch oven dinner she held for the scouts and their parents at our house I was approached by one of the dads.

"So, Pete I've been asked to ask you if you'll help with the ward road show this year"

"No."

"It'll be fun. We'll do a skit or something."

"Sounds like fun under other circumstances. No."

"It's no big deal, just a road show"

"Greg, I'm not even a member of your church and I don't want to participate. Thank you but NO. While we're on the subject though, I need some help with a thing for MY church. I am looking for someone to take care of Sunday afternoon beer procurement. Can I count on you to help with that?"

Greg chuckled nervously and the conversation was over. I hope he got the point.

There are a few things worth mentioning about this exchange. First is that Greg is a guy I like. I've had him over for dinner and our kids are close friends. This is probably why he was asked to approach me. I find this part of the whole deal the most disturbing. It makes me question his friendship as well as the motives of whomever dispatched the assignment.

Another point of interest is that when I resigned from the LDS Church in November, 2005 I met with the local Bishop and asked specifically not to be contacted regarding church business. It makes for awkward conversations and requires me to tell my neighbors "no" a lot.

Perhaps the next time I am approached I'll just say, "My temple name is Reuben. What's yours?"