The last 2 conventions I went to, I tore down the "One towel only please" and put it in my pocket.
Assembly/Convention Rules
by IMHO 36 Replies latest jw friends
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JWinprotest
My favorite is "bring your baby's dirty diaper back home with you".
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undercover
I swear I do not remember the 'one towel' rule. Maybe that was a regional thing.
I've also heard about some of the gals complaining about the mirrors being covered over...I guess so as to keep them from spending too much time primping. I don't know about at the rented coliseums or anything but they didn't do that at the Assembly Hall. I know - I spent time cleaning those damn bathrooms after the sessions...
I didn't think too much of it when I was in...I guess having grown up with it, it seemed normal...but now it's one of the damn silliest things you'll see at a JW convention. I guy standing still in the middle of the concourse holding up a sign that says, "PLEASE KEEP MOVING". I was standing talking to someone during the session and a brother carrying one of those signs walked up to me and cleared his throat and slightly jiggled the sign as if to say, "Excuse me, brother? Can't you read? Please move along." I just looked at him, turned my back and kept on with my conversation as if he wasn't there.
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Out at Last!
"One towel" sign was always up at our DC's. I always used 2 or 3.
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JerkhovahsWitless
No one had the no gum chewing rule? At the two WT$ owned cultvention centers I've been to since I was born, they ALWAYS annouce a couple of times a day that "There's to be no gum chewing inside the assembly hell"
That's my favorite time to pull out my gum, slowly unwrap a piece and chew it like I'm having an orgasm.
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cofty
Gee...we don't have many rules like that here in Ireland... but we're lax in most things
haha I Think it was Dara O'Briain who said there were three types of behaviour in Ireland
1. "Thats very good there well done"
2. "Be careful now"
3. "Now your taking the pi$$"
No offence intended to anybody but I really disliked "Attendants" at conventions, they seemed to spend all day tutting and shaking their heads. I remember an incident like Undercover related. I was having an important conversation with a friend outside the entrance to the assembly hall and a young attendant came up waving a piece of paper in our face and asked "Do you know the session has started?" I said "Yes" and turned my back and carried on. It turned out to be my last assembly
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WTWizard
I never remember the one-towel rule, probably because it started after I started skipping the a$$emblies. I used to take 3 or 4 towels--and clean up the mess I made in the sink (the water always makes a mess).
One rule I do remember is "No ink pens" for the a$$embly hell. I got around that by getting colored pencils that retract--the stated reason is that ink always gets on the chairs, and they were too stupid to get chairs that resisted ink stains. Even with that rule, there always seemed to be more than 100 ink marks on the chairs every day.
By comparison, I saw footage of videos of a Twelve Visions Party assembly. I did not get to attend (it was in Chicago, and I was nowhere near Chicago). However, the ten minute video sure looked like people were actually having fun--there was good music, dancing, and a generally festive atmosphere going on. Even the children seemed to enjoy that to the full. Granted, they had to pay a pretty high sum to be there (I believe it was something like $125, but I could be wrong on the exact amount), but the whole amount was honest. There was no dishonest system to create a deficit and then coerce people to cough up the difference--you were charged, and that was what you were expected to give. And there were no rules about which motels you had to select, or that you couldn't bring food into the place. And, given what I have seen on the Internet about that party, it was far more interesting than continually rehashing about masturbation, attending boasting sessions, that you need to be out in field circus, no Internet or college, beware of apostates, and the endless crap about the Adam-to-Perfection fib.
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nugget
The rules do come thick and fast of late.
There is always the delightful KMin Insert that tells you to be in seats in good time, don't save seats, have children with you, take rubbish home, don't bring coolers into stadium, if staying at convention then make sure your dress is always smart even when away from convention ground. Preferably you should always wear your name badge. Tip people properly in hotels and restaurants and other superfluous advice. A good one is don't have elaborate lunches as you will be sleepy in the afternoon, choose a handfull of nuts and water. No alcohol. The message is definitely "you are not here to have fun you are here to learn how unworthy you are."
Where is the advice about fellowship and companionship and how to show love for our brothers. No wonder most arrive at the convention totally stressed already failing before they started.
I always hated the Sunday afternoon rush when the dismantling started during the sessions. Too bad if you were a volunteer as the booth was dismantled around you and you lost sound.
Gone are the days when there were buffet huts selling a range of snacks and fruit. It has become a monastic experience but not in a spiritual way. I'm waiting for the insert to provide details on making you own whip and hair shirt to ensure that you will be in further torment for the 3 day period.
As previously mentioned we have been told there will be no car parking at the convention so everyone must travel in by coach. This will make it hard for large families who previously kept ice boxes in their cars until needed. It also means that no one will go for a sneaky nap in the afternoon and everyone is forced to spend the whole day at the convention regardless of sickness or boredom. The elderly and those unsteady on their feet will have a job marching to and from the coach espeacially since disabled car parking is limited to most worthy in a spiritual sense rather than most needy. I can see attendance being well down this year as many chose to stay home
In order for a family of 4 to go by coach it will cost between £119 and £145. Just madness.
I think it is sad that the organisation is so obsessed with control even down to the tiny details. Everything is run for the benefit of the organisation not for the benefit of those attending.
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kurtbethel
Yes, getting talked down to by "mother" really shows you what she thinks.
Here is a fine example of JWs getting treated like dumb helpless children.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/zhf1tc
