You hear about them for so long. The Grand Boasting Session is supposed to be the biggie. There is so much hype about the motels that are on the list, which will come out right around Jan 1. You are supposed to call ahead, and usually people get busy signals and full motels. Then the phone bill comes, and it's inflated with all these calls. Then they post updated lists, forcing people to place 20 or more completed calls and maybe 40 or 50 attempted calls that ended with a busy signal.
Then, there is the maze of rules. The May Kingdumb Misery always has a part about planning your vacation around the damn thing. They have ground rules against going to motels not on the list, horseplay or other abuse in the motels, and milling around at the program. Then there is the ordering of parking tickets and badges. They will tell you to wear your badge at all times.
Then it comes. Three days of hearing the same crap every year. From what I saw posted here, nothing really changed. They pass a resolution to crack down on entertainment one year, they crack down on college and the Internet the next, crap about them apostates, avoiding worldly associations that could lead to fornication, cutting back on work and other more meaningful pursuits so you can do more field circus, the faked experiences about the "joy" of it all, and the likes. Children get spanked for not sitting still through it or for needing to pee or get some water, or when they get hungry. Candy machines are roped off limits. Signs tell you every little thing to do at all times. What a fxxxing letdown!
I can remember one particular a$$embly, the Grand Boasting Session after the one I got baptized. We had to travel about 100 miles each way. And, I had a roommate that liked it hot while I liked it freezing cold (it's summer). I got stuck guarding a contribution box (unfortunately it was before those nice Zero Dollar Bills and Void Checks came out). The sisters treated me like I was disfellowshipped despite that it was blatantly obvious that I was assigned to guarding a Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund box and that other men were not shunning me. The program was almost identical to the one from the previous year, and the releases were wimpy. The eateries in the city were also wimpy (Domino's Pizza delivers).
That was a total waste. As for the benefits, independent of the costs, just about every major field trip exceeded it. As did every Christmas celebration I have ever had, every birthday party, and about half the trips to visit friends as a child (the other half were either boring because they were elderly people with no provisions for children or obnoxious). I have had camping trips that were more exciting than that Grand Boasting Session. Cripes, I have been to an arcade and spent all of $2, and had more fun there than at that damn a$$embly! I have even had times when I would go out in the woods in our own backyard and have more fun climbing trees than that wastefest.
The fact is, that wastefest was totally drab. There was absolutely no fun. I was rejected by the sisters despite guarding one of the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund boxes. There was no tour of the city. There was no TV watching at the motel. There was absolutely nothing going on that was worth the price. And, to top it off, I learned absolutely nothing. (And that was back in the late 1980s, not recently!) And, from what I have seen posted on this forum, those wastefests have gone from bad to even worse. Back then, they didn't have candy machines blocked off, they didn't have signs directing every movement of the people, and they didn't ban people from leaving the building during lunch time (they did, however, want people to support the arrangement and not go to McDonalds for lunch in lieu of getting a bagged lunch).
I think next time I will just skip the whole wastefest and go visit the museum or spend some time online. Or, in lieu of the arcades that are now missing, I will hook up my Xbox with some classic video games and play some early '80s music. At least that way I will have more fun than at the wastefest. Cheaper, too.