For those of you that shop in malls, do you ever run into those annoying people who man the hair care/skin care/nail care kiosks? You know the ones -- they practically accost you if you dare make eye contact with them or walk within twenty feet of their stand.

At our local mall there are two pain-in-ass kiosks manned by equally pain-in-the-ass employees, and of *course* they're situated right outside of Victoria's Secret and Sephora. Every time I go by I have to duck my head, walk quickly, or wave them off. I *hate* being rude, but it seems like they leave me no choice. A simple, "No thank you, I'm not interested" or, "No thank you, my hair is already naturally straight, so why would I want to purchase a hair straightener?" never seems to suffice. Grr! less

Oh there are a few kiosks at my mall where they try to hand out "free samples" in paper cups. What they actually do is grab your wrist when you reach for the cup and then start using whatever nail care or hand care stuff they're trying to sell. I just ignore them completely now. less

...isn't it illegal for them to put their hands on you like that without your permission? I'd have gotten terribly POed about that and would have demanded her get his hands off me lest I break them. (I really do hate being touched when I don't want to be.) less

I get a bit rude when people grab me as well. Course then again I'm usually accompanied by a much taller guy...so it's just not safe for sales people to try. I have seen women at perfume counters grabing testers as I walk by and loudly announced to Arch "If they spray me feel free to break them..." His wicked grin stopped them in their tracks. I am allergic to strong perfumes and I MEAN business...if I want to smell like the shit you're hawking I will ASK you. less

I get a bit rude when people grab me as well. Course then again I'm usually accompanied by a much taller guy...so it's just not safe for sales people to try. I have seen women at perfume counters grabing testers as I walk by and loudly announced to Arch "If they spray me feel free to break them..." His wicked grin stopped them in their tracks. I am allergic to strong perfumes and I MEAN business...if I want to smell like the shit you're hawking I will ASK you. less

I'm pretty sure it is, since it could be considered assault. If that happened to me I would probably end up hurting someone (this is coming from someone who is very nonviolent, by the way).

At one of the kiosks in the mall nearby, they sell some sort of Dead Sea stuff or something for manicures and all and they're really pushy trying to sell it. I swear, It gets annoying.

@ ToriRebel: I'm with you! I can't stand those hair-spider-things! I've never had the kiosk people practically attack my head with it, but it's freaky looking (also the thought that it's been used on other people's heads and all *shiver*)

I remember when I was younger, I lived near a different mall and I was walking with my family and the Hair-Spider kiosk people would literally chase after people to sneak up on them and use it on them. One time they picked the wrong guy to try it on and the guy they sneaked up on almost got 'physical' with the kiosk guy (and I don't mean 'physical' as in, "ooo, come here baby"; I mean, "Come here so I can punch your face in" type physical). It was hilarious, lol. less

I've never had that much problems with the kiosks people. I guess since I walk around with my arms crossed and practically glaring at most people (I don't generally tend to be in a good mood at the mall).

My biggest problem is with those people trying to sell "discount designer" parfume or large boxes of meat. I used to work in a convenience store on the only Hwy between two larger towns and these guys used to stop in all the time. Several times we had to call the police because they wouldn't leave us or the customers alone. What about "No soliciting on the property" do those people not understand?! less

Oh!!! Are you talking about those people who will have the huge coolers in the backs of their pickup trucks and will try and convince people to buy their meat?

I remember one time a couple years ago, the weird meat peddlers came by my house and after five minutes of trying to convince the redneck guys that "I don't want any of your dodgy meat, please go away", I finally closed the door on them. I peeked out the window to see when they'd leave and the guys were just sitting there and one was standing in what I thought at the time was an odd posture with his back towards my house.

They left behind an empty whiskey bottle in a brown bag and took a piss in my yard too.

*Sarcastic sigh* Gotta love living in the south....

P.s: ^ that's not meant to offend anyone, by any means. But come on, you all would be irritated too if some weird boozed up guy peed in your yard just because you didn't buy his sketchy meat, lol. less