Funny convention-experience I had as a kid

by Hellrider 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Hellrider
    Hellrider

    This is a little story about JWs and prejudice: When I was a kid, maybe around 12, at this one district convention, a funny thing happened, it was almost refreshing to me. Anyway, a group of punks, you know, leather jackets, nails everywhere, dirty pants, huge mohawks, tattoos, the whole deal, showed up at the convention. They just walked into the hall, the big hall filled with men in suits and women in dresses, and then they sat down on the floor, in the back of the hall. They didn`t do anything, they just sat there. Everyones attention was focused on them, you might say they stuck out of the crowd, lol. And all around me, I could see people looking over to them, whispering, looking at them again, the rumour spread around the hall, because pretty soon, some guys in suits showed up. Elder-police, I guess. My dad, a MS, went over to the group of other guys in suits, in case they might need "assistance" (my dad was kind of a big tough-guy). I can only wonder what they were thinking: "Those people are here to make trouble...if it comes to a fistfight or some sort of brawl,this will be tough, but Jehovah will give me strength...(or whatever)". But the elders (or whatever they were) didn`t do anything, I guess they were a bit bewildered as to how to handle the situation, after all, the punks hadn`t done anything. They were just sitting there, and from the look on their faces, it didn`t even look like they had any suspicion that they were unwanted, or that people were staring at them. I have no idea why they were there though, maybe it was for the cheap food (sausages and mashed potatoes on paper plates and hamburgers), or to get out of the sun. But what was funny was the reactions from the JWs. And the elder-police stood there lined up around them, looking down at them, you know, with their hands on their back, not knowing what to do with the situation. I don`t think anyone heard a word the speaker said. The punks sat there for several hours before they left, quietly and with no fuzz, with the guys in suits escorting them out.

    It was completely surreal. Two worlds colliding. But the ones that behaved the best, were the people of "this wicked system of things". I didn`t see them shake their heads or laugh even once, they were just sitting there listening. And every JW in the hall probably believed that it was the beginning of the great tribulation or something, ha ha.

  • Balsam
    Balsam

    What a cool experience. Probably some ex-witness kids just dropping in to see if the WTS was still drivelling the same garbage. That is quite an experience.

    Balsam

  • drew sagan
    drew sagan

    Great story. Isn't it funny how JW's are totally set back sometimes by people who are not wearing "approved" dress? I've seen people looked at like they are criminal just because they don't have a suit jacket on.

  • undercover
    undercover
    I've seen people looked at like they are criminal just because they don't have a suit jacket on.

    Try going to a convention with a full beard and hair past your collar.

    Oh, the horror! The inhumanity of it all!

  • joelbear
    joelbear

    witnesses faith in Jehovah to protect them.treads on very thin ice.

  • Hellrider
    Hellrider

    Yes, it was a good little experience. It was a breath of fresh air...helped me from dying from boredom. I used to hate the conventions. The talks would go on for hours on end without break. At least at the meetings, there would be a break once an hour. For a kid it`s hard enough to sit still for...30 minutes, not to mention several hours. The trips to the DC every summer was our "vacation". We had a trailor and all, plus a tent to set up outside it. God, the boredom. Anyway, when those punk rockers left, I remember I envied them, that they could just get up and leave. I didn`t understand why they came in the first place, I mean, who would experience that boredom voluntarily. Maybe they were engaged in a kind of social experiment or something. Maybe they weren`t so unaware of the reactions they caused after all. It was fun, though. The pathetic behaviour of "Jehovahs people" in this little experience, was clear to me allready then. It didn`t even make it less of an embarassment, being a "witness".

    Lol, is that you in the picture, Joelbear? You`re a hunk, man!

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    As a counterpoint, my church once accommodated a rock band at one of our services. They took up a whole row at the back, and like your punks, they sat politely and listened. They responded to the altar call en-masse. Later they shared how they'd been dabbling in satanism, and had some supernatural experiences. It freaked them out. They thought, "If the devil is real, maybe God is, too."

    The natural thing to do after THAT of course, was to go to church.

    Some of those fine young men stuck with us.

    I guess it comes down to "Who can read hearts?", and, "Ignore the packaging."

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