Clayton residents creeped out by men going door-to-door with vegetables

CLAYTON, N.C. (WNCN) – Some parents living in a Clayton neighborhood said they’ve had some strange visitors in the past week. They’re not sure exactly what to make of it.

Residents of the Glen Laurel neighborhood said two men have been going house to house with a bowl of vegetables asking to come inside so they can show them how to toss a salad. The phrase can have sexual connotations and residents were startled to see these men inside their garages.

“Just the way that he was speaking and exactly what he was saying, using the exact same sentence over and over again, was what really kind of made me think, ‘This is not real, You’re a creep.’ that’s what I thought,” said one Clayton mom. “This is something creepy going on and I don’t want any part of it.”

The mom says she had her garage door open because her daughter had run out to the grocery store. So, when she heard a knock on the garage door she figured it must be her.

“There were two men standing there, kind of later middle-aged men, wearing regular street clothes — shorts and button-up shirts — and had on blue aprons they had American Diabetes Association across the apron and the one guy was holding a big bowl of salad.”

The American Diabetes Association told CBS 17 these men do not work for them and they are alerting their North Carolina chapters. ADA said if anyone has a run-in with these men to call police.

The mom who spoke with CBS 17 did not want to be identified because she was so creeped out by the exchange.

“What caught me off guard first is the vegetables in the salad bowl did not look real, then he kept saying to me, ‘We just want to come in for just a minute just to show you how to toss a salad. Can we come in and show you how to toss your salad?’ Just the whole conversation and the way that he was speaking did not seem right to me.”

She said she told the men “no” and asked them to leave.

“Went to close the door and he stepped his foot on the bottom step and he said, ‘Oh, it will only [take] just a few minutes. Let me come in. I’ll wait for whatever you’re doing. Let me come in and show you how to toss your salad.’ That was when I said emphatically no and slammed the door in his face.”

Another neighbor caught the guys on her camera.

“First I thought, ‘Why are two strange men in my garage, first of all?’ It was extremely inappropriate. Most people, when they’re coming to someone’s house that they don’t know they come to the front door, they don’t go in through the garage.”

“You just never know when someone’s scoping you out to do something they shouldn’t be doing.”

Clayton police are telling homeowners if these men show up at your door, call 911.