My wife and 2 small sons and I were at a district assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses in Bismarck, ND 1975. I took most of the responsibility for my oldest son (about 2 1/2 years old) so my wife could devote her attention to the little guy. At breakfast I had picked up a roll of rainbow lifesavers for my son. Early in the afternoon they ran out. There was a candy vending machine at the convention . . . and I was saved. The machine was working and stocked and we got a roll of rainbow lifesavers.
The second day at breakfast, I forgot to buy lifesavers in the restaurant. I told my 2 1/2 year old son, "Don't worry, we'll get some at the assembly", but when I caught up with him at the vending machine there was a roll paper banner (that looked an awful lot like the paper on the temporary cafeteria tables) covering the machine held on with scotch tape that was hand lettered with a magic marker that said "OUT OF ORDER". This is a crisis. My little son looked almost panicked when I told him what the sign said. I told him that if the machine was really broke that we would go back to the store and get some candy. He watched with big eyes as I carefully pulled up one corner of the "out of order" sign and sneaked a quarter in the vending machine that I could now see had been freshly stocked. The quarter went "CLUNK" (sounded like someone dropped a manhole cover). Carefully I pulled the lever and out rolled a rainbow lifesavers candy roll.
Hmmmm repeat above.
Oops! Just as the second offensive rainbow lifesavers hit the tray, two Society assembly security officers (convention cops called "attendants") were between us and the "out of order" machine. They physically pushed us back away from the machine with their bellies and said in a rather arrogant manner "The machine is out of order . . . Brother." I said "You are a liar . . . brother."
One said" You wait right here while we get brother Matz."
I indicated I would be rather glad to wait for brother Matz and that I was anxious to hear him explain this lie. Pretty soon they rushed back and asked me my name. I told them and they trotted off again, apparently to see brother _. Pretty soon here they come, briskly walking, back to confront the culprit (me), without brother Matz . They said "Brother Matz said you can use the machine just keep it to a minimum." I was shocked, my son cried, and it was a lie.
The way my son and I were treated for driving 400 miles to be with our "spiritual brothers" certainly was not with either love or honesty. This incident reminded me of other similar incidents I had witnesses at Kingdom Halls and assemblies and in my mind I questioned the principle behind these tactics and arrogant way my little son and I were treated by "Jehovah's people".
At the same convention, seated about 3 rows in front of us, a man was trying to quiet a small (about 3 year-old) girl after she had sat quietly for well over an hour. Her cries caught my attention but my eyes were glued on the man. He was being very rough with this cute little girl dressed up like a doll. He would pick her up and slam her body down on the chair. Finally she stood up and he started to hit her on the bottom and he wouldn't stop. I stood up, stepped down to him and he stopped hitting her. I told him if he needed to hit somebody he could hit me or was I too big for him. (This happened during a program lecture) This incident also reminded me of other, way too similar, things I have witnessed at the Kingdom Halls and at other assemblies involving the treatment of children.
District Conventions
by EAGLES 32 Replies latest jw experiences
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garybuss
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Open mind
Remember the stampede for the "free plants" around the stage?
We were never allowed as kids, nor have I ever had a desire as an adult, to join in that "THEOCRATIC MOSH PIT".
Open Mind
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mimimimi
I remember district conventions where the mirrors in the women's restrooms were covered with brown paper so you could not use them. As the years went on, though, I attended district conventions where this was not the case. Then I was a convention where the mirrors were not covered and I was standing there putting on lipstick and powdering my face, necessities after lunch when you have gone through half the day, and a couple of real countrified looking young women (eyes too close together, inbred looking, snaggly tooth bitches) were staring at me and saying "this is why the brothers cover the mirrors. They should have done it here." I could have just smacked the shit out of both of them.
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95stormfront
This whole thread brings to memory something I saw at the last convention in Katy Texas the one day I attended with my wife. There was this kid sitting below us with very high dollar ipod and some headphones. The whole time the convention was going on, this kid about 12 or 13 was sitting there watching copies of the Dave Chappell show. If you've ever watched Dave Chappell, you know his brand of humour is not the type any JW would let their kids get any exposure to. His humour is quite crude and wayy over the top. I was confident that this parent had to not be too technically inclined and had no idea what this kid was doing. Well, my wife was horrified that this kid was watching it during the convention. It was all she could talk about on the way home.
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Hortensia
why cover a vending machine? Why not just let it run out? Seems mighty petty to me. Garybuss - thanks for standing up for the little kid. Poor things need people to look out for them, inside or outside the org. I remember being in line at the post office once when a youngish mother stood there talking bad about her poor little kid saying rather unkind things, not just a mom bitching, but really cruel. I turned around and told her "he is a nice little kid and he can understand what you are saying. You should never talk about him like that again to anyone." You should have seen everyone step back and look at me as if I was poisonous.
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Mad
Sadly, Conventions have deteriorated to the finest brothers having to READ the 'talk', or Near-Read- meaning they can use their own words a LITTLE - but NOT deviate from it, no adding scriptues in place of the same ones used over & over & over again, no local info- in short NO PERSONALITY.
The words "benefit", "more fully", "spiritual food", "we do well to ask ourselves" are used ENDLESSLY, with the reader's head bobbing up & down all day, pausing dramatically for all to clap at the right places.
Good points: association before & after, experiences, and dramas.
The Ugly: "Keynote" 'Talk'; it's NEVER a talk- but a word-for-word reading of 1/2 doom & gloom, 1/2 scriptures to encourage- but read word-for-word. The ULTIMATE in mindless BOREDOM!
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AK - Jeff
Remember the stampede for the "free plants" around the stage?
This might have been the case in some places and for some time. But in all the latest DC's I attended, the plants, carpet, and other stage 'props' were all sold at the end of the convention - never given away. I remember before the 'lunch' program changed, that the attendants would 'hawk' the remaining food items in the halls as we were leaving - danishes, ham and cheese sandwiches, cola's. You would have thought that the brothers had never eaten before, the way they mobbed the ones selling.
I don't think these modern day 'Israelites' would have done so well with 'manna'.
Jeff
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jgnat
is it really true that Congragations have to sit together now????
Arthur: No, that is absolutely false.
undercover: That's not to say that some over righteous elder never overstepped his authority and told his congregation that they "should" sit in their assigned section. And, of course, like good little sheep, the dubs would fall right in line and sit exactly where they thought they were told to sit without ever questioning why.
Me: My hubby was told where his congregation would be seated, with a strong suggestion that this is where he would like to sit, too. That didn't stop him from sitting where he wanted, though. My adorable closet rebel...
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DannyHaszard
Watchtower Money for protest and awarenesshttp://www.dannyhaszard.com/pickets/WT$.htm -
Jeffro
And where do visiters and DFers sit?
Where ever they want.
So that would be, "at home"?
