Grrrrrrrrrrr...

by mariposa 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  mariposa

  So here I am Sunday walking through the mall with my hubby, niece and little girl. He's from Guatemala and I'm about as white as you can get..red hair to boot. We're talking in Spanish about whatever and a little voice comes up from behind me in Spanish, "You speak Sapnish?" DUH!! So I said yeah and smiled. Well then the "truth" came out....I guess the Sapnish cong. in the area have special stuff to hand out right now and she just launched right into to it. I was like No thanks and kept walking...she had to follow " blah blah blah blah blah". I said you guys are witnesses right? She said yes. I said "Look I was involved with them for over 10 years and don't want to have any part of it"

  Boy was I stupid enough to think that would shut her up! She keeps following me..Why? What happened? with a look of utter shock on her face that anyone would leave Jehovah. I finally turned around and told her to leave me alone, I'm finished with this conversation. She stopped thank god!

  I've been messed up about it since...should I have tried to explain what happened to me? Why I'm no part of it anymore? Then I get pissed off and think I should have gone to mall mgmt. and told them what was going on in their mall. We saw the lady and her husband for the next hour approaching anyone who looked like they might speak spanish. And why did she talk to me...not my husband who is obviouly latino?

  My thoughts and emotions have been on a roller coaster ride ever since. I had thought I was doing so much better not thinking about the witnesses all the time and all a sudden BAM it all comes back at once!!!! I get really mad that I reacted so strongly, I didn't think it would affect me this much. Geesh....will it ever totally go away???
• 

  carla

  Write the mall a letter you will feel better. Sometimes it is just small acts that make you feel like you can make a difference about this damned cult. Can they really cruise the malls now?
• 

  Scully

  Maybe write to the mall administration office and tell them that you were harassed by this JW, even after you told them NO. Tell them that you were stalked/followed, and harassed some more, declined again, and then were stalked/followed and harassed even more after that, until you became angry with the person. Then say that this experience is extremely upsetting to you and that it ruined the pleasant afternoon at the shopping mall, and that it made you very nervous about this person following you and harassing you with their religious beliefs. Even if they did have permission from the mall authorizing them to be there, they have no right forcing their beliefs on anyone the way that was done to you.

  I bet if you did that, there will not be a booth there for the next few weeks, at least. Malls are very protective of their clientele and if they receive harassment complaints about someone who is manning a booth that they provide as a courtesy, they will tell them they can no longer provide the booth for them.
• 

  Cabin in the woods

  OMG! It is no wonder that the spanish congregations are "enjoying' such a rapid growth...determination and the ability to out run their victims.

  I am sorry you got hassled.

  cab
• 

  mouthy

  My thoughts and emotions have been on a roller coaster ride ever since. I had thought I was doing so much better not thinking about the witnesses all the time and all a sudden BAM it all comes back at once!!!! I get really mad that I reacted so strongly, I didn't think it would affect me this much. Geesh....will it ever totally go away???

  I have a friend who is a MALL Manager . She wont let them park in the Mall if they are doing that & chucks them off the Mall. MY advice if this ever happens to you again I think you should "lay it on them" the reason why you left.... Tell her the truuth about the LOVE in the organization. But forget it now.... That is an experience you wont forget if you dont try....& because it has stirred up bad memories again DONT LET THEM HAVE THAT POWER ...Forget it ....Tell yourself they "aint" worth it. ((((HUGS)))
• 

  Warlock

  If you just told them "No thank you. I'm an apostate" they never would have followed you.

  Warlock
• 

  Confession

  should I have tried to explain what happened to me?

  I'll tell you what I've started to say when approached by a JW. I smile warmly and often shake his/her hand. Then I say...

  "My family and I have been Witnesses for more than sixty years and for four generations. I was an elder myself. But eventually I became willing to look at ALL the information about my religion, and discovered that the Watchtower Society is not what it claims to be. As shocked as you may be over this, tens of thousands of former Witnesses, including elders, Bethelites and traveling overseers are discovering the same thing. They've realized they weren't walking in Jesus' footsteps, but in those of a group of men. Just remember this: The Truth does not fear the light, and the more you're willing to consider ALL of the information, the more you'll probably come to see what we have."

  That's pretty much it in a nutshell. If someone starts to get bitchy, I'll ask...

  "Did you know that in the 1960s the Governing Body at the Watchtower discovered they were wrong about 1914 being what they've always said it was? But they voted not to admit it publicly? Do you realize what this means about this organization?"

  That usually gets you a "deer in headlights" expression.
• 

  Ingenuous

  Confession - I just copied your post and saved it for future use - I like that response.
• 

  parakeet

  My response to JWs varies depending on the kind of day I'm having. Sometimes they irk me so badly I want to give them a tongue-lashing for being so clueless. Other days I feel intensely sorry for them for being so clueless. I usually end up taking the middle road -- "not interested" repeated politely as many times as it takes to get rid of them. It's a response they're used to and doesn't upset them or you.