... well, at the driveway actually, I was getting into the car. I recall that when I was out on the preach and people weren't where they were supposed to be (opening the door, surprised to see me, where I can catch them off guard) I didn't start by having complete control of the conversation. These guys came around the corner and saw me and I had a few seconds to calm myself and try to remember what I'd intended to say to the next JW who calls by, and I nearly got all of it.
One was a lot nicer than the other, and it was the nice guy whose turn it was to do the door. He opened with the usual, in the neighbourhood, offering WT and Awake, have you seen them? I was in a kind and calm mood by then and told him that yes I had. He showed me one with a title re evil, and asked where I think all this evil comes from. I paused and smiled and told him that, actually, my mum became a Jehovahs Witness, and it destroyed our family (that happens to be true). He was a bit puzzled as to where to go next, so I explained that the JWs in our family don't talk to the non-JWs because we are "not good enough to associate with" (I tried to avoid catchphrases, because if I knew their language too well they'd know I had been deeper into it than I was pretending). I said that I think that this is wrong. The nice guy mentioned that his family don't talk to him any more either, I guess he didn't grow up JW. Between them they tried to explain that families just have to learn to live with their differences and I tried to explain that yes I know that, but it's the JWs who don't talk to the witnesses, not the other way around. The meaner guy took on the air of a man who was pretending he hadn't heard it and was indifferent. The nice guy said that he didn't know what to say, and I said "yeah I know. But I really don't want the magazines." He wished me a good day, I did the same to them as they turned around, and I was trying to remember what I want to tell every JW but I was a bit flummoxed. When they'd turned the corner and gone I flipped them off a lot because I felt like venting, and I knew that my neighbour was watching and she knows the whole story. She gave me the thumbs up as I drove off.
It went well I think, I delivered just that little thought in a way that it will stay with them for a while, because I didn't give them any reason to dismiss it. I wasn't angry or aggressive, just obviously sad about my family and very calm, even pitiful for them. If the nice guy ever has an epiphany about WBTS this will be one of the things that he'll remember. As I drove off I remembered what I should have closed with: "I know that you won't believe me, but it doesn't change the fact that in a few decades you're going to grow old and die. When that's about to happen, are you going to be proud of the way you treated your family?" Damn I wish I'd said that. When I got to the corner I saw that five or six car groups of JWs were pulled up in the park over the road, doing their morning tea thing. They'd probably just left the meeting and these two guys had decided to start counting time before tea break. Sure left them feeling shaken by it. I very nearly pulled over and got the nice guys attention to say that but I chickened out.