by Nellie 28 Replies latest jw friends
It was right about then that I saw a sister slip her an envelope of money!!! Boy was I shocked! In all my years, I never knew that went on. Boy was I naive!
Join the club, Nellie. I was in for about 20 years before I found out about the "green" handshakes, so don't feel too bad.
Warlock
I would estimate it's been about 50/50. Like many other posters here, I have known a dramatically large proportion of sickly, obviously depressed CO's wives with special food requirements. Fifty percent? How far outside the population average is that? And it's hard to blame them. I think that life would drive most insane.
I don't think that giving donations to COs is either given or taken as a bribe. CO's do give up a lot materially in their misguided self sacrifice for the Organization. My parents were on the way to being comfortably rich when they stopped working and went on the circuit, now when they retire they will have to struggle the remainder of their lives financially. Which also means I have lost a large inheritance (if I am still in the will).
JWF - I don't think most of the friends who "helped" the overseers saw it as a bribe either - but I wonder how harsh a CO would be on a brother who just handed him a fat envelope? When I saw CO's they were all driving new society cars, wearing nice suits, shoes, etc. and I never for a minute thought that they were lacking financially. Call that the blindness of youth. As I got older, I learned better. Also, as I got older and tried to be "one of the sisters in the congregation" - no longer in the bloom of youth myself - I was subjected to the miserable woes of the women around me - including the COs wives. Just wondered if you all saw what I saw - I guess you did.
The one CO and wife that I really got to know couldn't stand each other and did little to hide it while staying with us. At the congregation, they put on a show though. The wife begged me one time to stay home from the meeting and watch my sick kid. I said the sisters would want to see her. She told me that the sisters couldn't care less about her and she was sick of hearing the same talks over and over.
She ended up with cancer and he continued to do circuit work. Said someone else was caring for her. Shortly after she died, he married a pioneer sister young enough to be his daughter. I think the stress of such an unnatural life could drive anyone insane. Oh yeah, they were of the "annointed" class too.Definately left a lasting impression on me. No wonder they are having trouble filling these positions now. At least now they do have some perks-a car to drive, private apartments, insurance, etc.
Holy smokes, what a coincidence! The CO's wife we had before our current one had STRICT dietary requirements. It seemed like plain white bread was the only thing that wouldn't upset her digestive system. Our current CO's wife was too ill to join him during his last visit. I always wondered why they tend to have problems, but now I see why...
I can remember possibly one who didn't wear her problems on her sleeve...
Our CO wives always were expensively dressed and elegant looking ladies. I always noticed how the CO always would give talks about
how we don't have good enough attendance at meetings or enough hours of participation in FS yet they dont have to go to work every day at
a real job and pay bills like the rest of us. Their job is to go in service every day and have us pay the bills for them.
Also, they always were on special diets and we have to prepare the appproved food for them.
The ones I can think of lived for their Mondays off and holidays!
They viewed it as a job.
I cannot feel sorry for them we all make choices.
almost every single CO's wife was sick and terribly unhappy.
I'd say this statement was true of almost all JW's wives. Certainly I was one of them.
The CO's wives I met seemed healthy and happy enough. I imagine getting to move around a lot was exciting for them. Getting fed and hardly ever having to cook would have helped them a lot.
