working for JW's

by arker 10 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  arker

  As a JW I mainly worked for brothers. A lot seem to be in the Construction Industry. Probably because they are uneducated, because anyone who does work construction (like me) is stuck in it. But very few have really successful businesses. But I do have to say they were in general fun to work with, except when religious politics came into play.

  I was a reg. pioneer and worked for an elder. Me and another brother who worked for him and we had a miscommunication and dropped a trim board and broke the end of it. 10$ worth. The other bro. said I was being difficult so he wouldn't get in trouble and that I made it fall. Well a couple weekends after that the elder I worked for was door knockin with me and told me I was gonna be appointed an MS, but that since that happened with the trim they felt I was not mature enough. And this after i was Reg pioneering, volunteering to give no show talks every week, doing mics every meeting, and much more.

  So my question is what crazy things happened from or during you working with witnesses? Have you worked for them? Would you again? and what kind of work was it?
• 

  Bumble Bee

  I've never had the pleasure of working for/with JW's. I did know several that owned their own business and said they'd never have JW's as employees ever again. We rented an apartment to a JW couple and they were the worst tenants we ever had, broke the lease, left the apartment dirty, damage, etc that we've never had with any other tenants. (And you know you can't take your "brother" to court to recover your expenses!)

  BB
• 

  sweetface2233

  I've never had the pleasure of working for/with JW's.

  I would say the word "pleasure" is being used loosely here. I was the Office Manager for a JW owned cleaning company from 08/05 - 05/06. The company was located about 45 mins west of DC and at the time I was living about 30 mins east of the district. I got to know the owner's through my sister and they talked to me one day saying they were in dire need of an Office Manager/Scheduler for their business. I was an Office Manager for a yacht company in Annapolis, MD at the time, but I was interested in starting my life anew (recently divorced). I sold my home and bought a condo in VA. Once I got settled in, I noticed how unorganized the office was and was shocked to see that many of the cleaners did not have valid working papers. On a Friday at 5pm, after I had finished a project for the owner, he pulled me into his office and said, and I quote, "We are implementing new software and procedures and I will no longer need your services. You may have also noticed that we are making a lot of deposits w/ cash from my personal home equity line of credit. If I had (insert my salary digit here) in the bank, I would keep you on and train you. Please take your time cleaning out your desk and turn your in your keys" I was shocked! But, then it gets better. I filed for unemployment a week later and he told the DLLR that I was fired due to my "attitude w/ customers." He's a liar...he either lied to me about the reason for dismissal or he lied to the DLLR so he wouldn't have an unemployment claim charged against him.

  F#*k you, "Brother" Kaiser!!!
• 

  arker

  The office condition when you got there sounds normal. Theyhave no business training. My ex father-in-law was service overseer and he closed his contracting business and did a bankruptcy and owed thousands in taxes. He had tax leins and they regularly emptied his accounts to collect. Then he started another biz with a fellow bro. friend. that went belly up when they dropped a hose they were lifting and nearly killed their worker that was under it at the time not to mention the 80 year old couple living in the house at the time!

  Pure Genius!
• 

  WTWizard

  I got out of this trap. I had a "brother" that wanted to be my landlord and boss, both. As a landlord, he would have had access to my apartment and anything even slightly out of place would result in lengthy hounding above and beyond the lease. For sure, getting some music would have been censored--there would have been no way to compile rap music onto mini discs for personal use on discs that give no clue that they contain the filthiest rap available, since he would have made me throw them away. Obviously, getting a Christmas tree would have been impossible. The slime wanted to get me an alarm clock when I started fading so I could be at all the meetings! Imagine having a landlord that would make sure you are always at the meetings, no matter how crappy they treat you.

  As a boss, I was in his department for a time at work. He was always impossibly picky with details, and insisted in my doing it his way. There was absolutely no sense of freedom while he was on. Often I would hope for him to go home early or just be sick so there would be some freedom. And he would spend more time arguing about trivial Bible points that I would tell them to just do the research themselves. They also threatened me and the others with judicial measures because of disagreements on personal matters. This could have been avoided in large part had he applied 1Thess 4:11 and minded his own damn business.

  Ultimately, this Witless boss got fired when his assistant called in sick (legitimately). He tried to call me into his department, after I had been transferred successfully to another department. About 5 minutes later I got pulled into my proper department by that head (who was duly authorized to do so). Then he spent the night dragging displays and knocking down things, busting items and leaving them on the floor, leaving busted glass and spills so customers would slip and fall or not be able to get down aisles. So much for following Godly principles!

  Then they had another Witless as the replacement. He got caught sleeping on the job, and the other Witlesses are either too pious, too lazy, or both. They spent more time arguing about petty Watchtower points and who is going to attend which wastefest than doing work that actually is work. They would do the bare minimum at work. But when it came to pioneering, they were always willing to do more than what they really needed and insist that I should be going with them. I wonder how much time they wasted trying to suggest ways to enable me to be at all the meetings without making it worth it to go--so much for the Witlesses being good bosses and keeping religion out of the work place!
• 

  Bumble Bee

  sweetface - the word pleasure was definately used "tongue in cheek"

  BB
• 

  arker

  It's funny that I don't think we ever talked scriptures at work and I have worked for 6 different brothers companies. Bible, meetings, and service never was discussed. I think the more they talk that way the more"spiritual" they feel they are. That kind of mentality was always so annoying. It was like, we already have to go to 3 meetings a week and service so shut up already about scriptures. I caould care less how many you memorized or could say.

  The witnesses I worked with mostly goofed around, including the owners. We would mess around while getting work done, but at the same time when I started working for regular people it was a big surprise how you are expected to focus and work. When I look back I can only imagine how many jobs we could of done if we were focused.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I did the stereotypical window washing. I worked for a brother with huge contracts. He made
  a success of his business for many years until it all got to be too much. He had several
  accounts.

  Anyway, one year, a couple of brothers (myself included) drove back and forth to the District
  Convention so that we could do some windows at night, while the boss enjoyed the hotel and the
  rest. It was too much for us, so we asked for a different arrangement the next year.

  It was decided that one person could do all the work if he worked all weekend during the DC.
  That one person would go to a different District Convention. I drew the short straw. Well, I told the
  boss that I was going to take a vacation in the Summer to go visit my mother during her convention
  and attend that convention. Plans were made in February, airline tickets were purchased because
  I lived a long way from my mother then.

  Well, the C.O. visited around February and was scheduled for six months later to return. That put
  him close to my vacation, but not at the same time. About 5 months later, the C.O. sends a
  letter to change his visit. Now he is visiting during my vacation. The boss (in the same cong.) says
  he cannot cover for me, and I need to change my vacation. I tell him that I purchased nonrefundable
  tickets, and I absolutely refused to cancel the vacation unless he purchased the new airline tickets for
  a different weekend. He refused and still insisted. I had already missed the cong. scheduled DC and
  covered for everyone at work that weekend.

  Do you know how much money a window-washer makes? Not enough to lose his airline tickets. I told
  the boss, "You enjoyed the DC last year while I worked my tail off. You and the other brothers enjoyed
  the DC this year while I worked my tail off again. I don't see the big deal of one person missing while you
  and the others cover it. What makes the C.O. visit much different from the regular weekend? Nothing.
  (He was an elder and probably wanted to do even more than his usual recruiting that weekend.) So I am
  going on vacation at the time I scheduled. It's up to you whether I have a job when I come back. I am
  sure I will qualify for unemployment for your flimsy reason for firing me."

  I had the job when I came back. It turns out that the cong. wanted to appoint me an M.S. during that visit,
  and the C.O. thought to wait since I wasn't there during his visit. I am now glad the boss didn't tell me
  that because I would have been stupid enough to cancel my trip. I was appointed 6 months later.
• 

  arker

  At least you can be proud you became a MS!

  They always had weird excuses for me. Even one time it was because I wore a weird tie. Granted it was bright blue and had disney characters on it, but I wore it for fun a couple times. The tie showed I was not serious enough. I said" are you kidding me" They were not. That's when my 3 month fade out began.
• 

  NvrKssdNObutt

  Garland B was an elder who worked at a manufacturing firm. Bill S, a lowly publisher, worked for the same company (in a different department)

  The only time their paths would meet was at the break room. Garland had the audacity to order Bill to clean up if Bill left something on the table when he went back to work. Garland hounded Bill so much for every little nit picking thing that Bill quit the "truth" What a favor "Lord" Garland actually did for Bill by being a hounding, no-account bastard!

  Garland hounded me also but I was so convinced I was "in the truth" I stayed on and on and on knowing that something was wrong with such an organization but continuing to "wait on Jehovah" to deal with the matter. I look back and think "how could I have been such an idiot for so long?"