Say a Little Prayer

So this happened.

This morning at work, a nice lady came in to purchase a copy of her son's driving record. She complained briefly (and politely) about getting misinformation over the phone and running around town to different DMVs before we moved on to her transaction. There was general banter and chitchat as I processed her request. At the end of the transaction, she said I was the nicest State worker she'd ever met and asked my name which I told her. Then there was banter about how pretty my name is (it is!) and I joked about how the uniqueness meant I'd never hear my name on Romper Room (and trust me, I watched avidly hoping for THAT miracle). More banter which I tried to taper off because more customers were waiting. Then, she stuck out her hand to me which I took, prepared for a quick shake. Not to be! She introduced her self as Sister (name redacted...heh) and asked (while still gripping my hand), "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?" I kindly told her, "No, I'm not religious." She then proceeded to start praying for the Lord to "come to me". Note: she is still holding my hand and I still have 3 customers in queue. This went on about 20 - 30 seconds and I just stood there kinda stunned and thinking, "Uh, AWKWARD!" She broke off (still holding my hand) to ask if I had a husband and children. I told her no at which point she asked if I wanted a husband. I said, "Not particularly", and she laughed and (FINALLY!) let my hand go. A bit more banter and then she "blessed" me and went about her day.

Okay, here's the thing. I know she was just trying to be nice, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable, not just because she did this (quietly) in front of a waiting area full of customers, but because my requirement of being customer-friendly prevented me from snatching my hand away and telling her to skedaddle. It is really off-putting how presumptuous religious people are. One hears many of them whine about how intolerant those of us who are agnostic or atheist or just not into religion are, and yet they don't seem to realize the impact that being confronted with their religion EVERY DAY has on those of us who are not religious (and let's face it, in America when I say religious I mean CHRISTIAN).

Am I nuts here? Should I just shake it off as a kindly church lady doing something sweet for someone she had a pleasant encounter with? Or is it reasonable that I feel like I was kinda ambushed into "accepting" her prayer? And let me clarify, it wasn't just that I was at work that made this extra-weird, but the fact that, often, people who don't follow Christianity are made to feel like second-class citizens in this country. I say this as someone who grew up studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses (a Christian religion despite the failure to celebrate Christmas and Easter), so I know of both ambush religious tactics (who amongst you haven't complained about JWs coming to your door to pawn off Watchtowers and Awakes?) and religious persecution (try being the only kid in an elementary class not standing for the flag).

I get that people who are religious want to "spread the word" and share their faith, but it is just so arrogant to assume that the other party just has to take it because their "intent" is "good".

What say you?