Religion.

"Here"- a strange man on the bus handed me a religious brochure. I could have said, "No thank you" or even more more  strongly point out that I wasn't interested, something like "Take it back" as it landed on my lap. It was one of those "Discover Islam" folding prints and I have to say I really wasn't intending to even look inside. But he seemed nice and excited about what he just gave me and I din't want to be mean to him. As I was getting off at the next stop I rolled up to the student union building where I was meeting a friend for lunch with a piece of literature in my lap trying to think what to do with it. I felt like throwing it away would be extremely disrespectful to the man and his religion, although he did inconvenience me with it. I didn't care to learn more about it, although I already feel I know a fairly good amount. But still, as much as I wanted to just get rid of it and although he wouldn't be there to see it, I felt I'd much rather give to someone or put in some place. For a second there it felt like the respect for his entire belief system has literally landed in my lap and I felt there needed to be a tactful solution. Maybe it's silly- but if people sincerely believe in something I feel I shouldn't go out of my way to offend them even if I don't subscribe to the same belief system or can relate to them easily. I didn't want to become an advocate for someone's religion either so it wasn't my place to pass it on to someone. It did interest me slightly in a professional sense. Since I've been running a nonprofit how other organizations communicate with the public and promote their mission. It was from some center headquartered at a some shop in a small town in Florida. Interesting. I was not about to convert to a religion, but if I didn't need it, maybe somebody else did. So I left it at the student building. Maybe someone else appreciated the educational experience, but that certainly wasn't me. I have to say, between all the Bible study meetings flyers people give me when I wheel by on UF campus and all the political rally meetings I get from random strangers stopping me on the street, that was definitely a first.