Here's my story. My wife and I got on this ferry to cross from one island to another
while on a vacation. She was going to meet her JW friend from that island at the
landing and I was going to go on to the beach, leaving them to their own day of
selling Watchtower literature.
We arrive at the landing and make the short walk off the pier into the square where
people catch taxis and buses. The JW friend is sitting on a park bench with her
other two pioneer friends. The three of them have WT literature prominently displayed
on their laps so passersby could see what it was. The three were having the greatest
conversation with each other and allowing the hustle and bustle to just pass by them.
No attempt was made to engage people in conversation if they came near the bench.
Certainly, no attempt was made to stand up and approach people. This was a public
square- no laws would be broken if they actually tried to approach people.
When I met them, they talked about how great it was that they could get down here
early enough to get their TIME in, how they had met the 'group for service' but got some
TIME in before, and immediately got down here to keep their TIME rolling and how well
they were doing with their service TIME for the year, for the month. They bragged about
how they had gotten great parking spaces by the shops. They said the parking was
clearly marked "For Customers Only" but they parked there before the shops were open
and would leave just before they opened, so no big deal. The important thing was not to
waste TIME walking too far from the Hall, but to drive closer to the square.
If they walked, they might have had to actually talk to people as they were passing.
Oh, I could tell from previous visits and from their conversations later that day after they
finished their TIME, that the islanders tolerate them in a pitying sort of way. Besides
approaching the beach tourists, the local JW's make sure to keep their TIME rolling by
making RV's on nearby residents before driving to town and after driving back from town.
They don't want to drive all that way (20-30 minutes) without counting that TIME. So
anyway, they have residents that they visit once a week. This one is for starting my TIME
on Monday and this lady is for finishing my TIME on Monday, then Tuesday I stop by that
nice old couple before heading to the KH to meet the group....YADDA YADDA.
I actually heard one of these conversations from the car on a previous visit. The resident
was saying how she didn't have much time to spare, but thanked the pioneer for visiting and
mentioned how she didn't think the high price of gas (it was peaking then) was more than
just a sign of greed and the ever-changing times. You could tell how she was just polite to
the JW and felt sorry for her visiting every week, hoping for some kind of positive response.
The lady really needed to tell the JW not to come back, but she just couldn't do it.