Vine or No Vine

We love the look of our house with the vines growing. A wonderful neighbor offered to pull up the "dead" vines this spring and we said, no, no, no! Yesterday some window salesmen came to the door, trying to convince me that our old windows were either hard to crank open because they were a: painted shut or b: warped or c: old. However the first thing out of their mouths after the introduction and handshake was this: "Is that poison ivy growing on your porch?" I should have said, "Yes. Go away." But I did not. I stayed in the heat to hear about our window needs because they were in the neighborhood replacing someone's windows.To end the conversation, the asked me what our heating and cooling bills are. I lied and told them my husband writes all the checks and I don't pay any attention. I'm sure they decided I was an old grouch and subservient wife. The main thing they did was give the dogs a good barking work-out.