by MrFreeze 150 Replies latest jw experiences
I was pulled aside by 2 elders after the meeting one day and was told that someone in the hall reported to them that they'd seen me and the person I was dating at the time...
...walking down the street together without a chaperone!!!
I asked "why on earth do we needed a chaperone in public"?
"Otherwise the friends might get stumbled and think you weren't using chaperones at all."
I was once "counseled" by a fellow elder because I used the term "immorality" in a Local Needs talk to refer to: immoral behavior!
He said it ONLY referred to sexual immorality, ie. "fornication." He was afraid the congregation might think some of our young people were having sex, when in fact (at least as far as we knew) they had only been smoking pot.
I first informed him that if he were correct, then the expression "sexual immorality" would be redundant.
I next told him that, in the future, he should think about consulting a dictionary before he counsels me about the meaning of words.
He said I needed to work on my humility. Seriously!
One time my car got stuck on the soft shoulder. I found an old rotten piece of wood in a field nearby and used to to help get me unstuck. When we were done an elder told me that I needed to put the wood back where I got it. I refused and just tossed on the side of the road and drove off.
He even called my dad later to complain.
One day in FS the group asked whose care we could use. When nobody spoke up I said we could use mine but but I'm going to need people to chip in for gas money. An elder took me aside and called me arrogant. Quite funny because he never seemed offered to use his car.
At a CA in a talk the CO said we shouldn't refer to the Australian cricket team as "our team" or "our side" when talking about the cricket. We were not Australians he told us, we were only JWs and had to refer to sporting teams or prime ministers as "Australian" as in "The Australian cricket team," or "Australian prime minister" instead of "our cricket team" or "our prime minister". Or else, we were showing nationalistic pride. What an idiot!
Sideburns too long
Hair too fluffy
Jeans too tight
Sports car not suitable for service
Tires too wide
Suede jacket and tie not appropriate for meeting
Singling out sisters (sitting by them at the D.C)
Dancing too close (keep an "Aid Book" distance between you)
Going to a concert
Having a group Watchtower Study on Monday nights with other young people.
Everything they told me until age 24 was ridiculous....
Getting called in because someone had heard I played GTA was a gem, there were a few of us,we were even told if we traded it in that would be allowing others to experience evil. Getting called in for being seen in a night club was another. Being called in for having a friend stay in our hotel room at the assembly was another. Being called in because when the fire alarm went off at the assembly one late night, we then arrived back from the local clubs to greet our elders in dressing gowns and pyjamas outside the hotel, probably a favourite....
They were endless and they were pathetic and looking back they had no right to say jack shit about our lives, I can't believ parents would allow othes to have so much say. Our elders were paticularly busy-body in nature. The irony is, the elders and their families were up to REAL improper behaviour. Cheating on wives, domestic violence, alcohol abuse etc etc. But making sure the kids were not having fun....priority number one.
It's all about exerting control in those cases.
I agree Julia, also in many of the experiences I can see the impotent and unimpressive older men (and wives) seeing an opportunity just to make themselves feel a little more important.
In some ways it's actually quite sad that this is one of the few ways they can exert their individuality and pretend that they have any kind of knowledge or edumaction...
This might trump most, it was akward then and still akward to relate now. When I was a ms, my brother in law, a fellow ms and always a perv, approached me and said an elder asked him to talk to me about my wife's somewhat tight clothes. She was an incredibly built woman at the time, well endowed and perfectly built, imho. Anyway it seems her clothes were "too revealing" and drew attention to her "assets", both her top and bottom. He drew particular attention to her having visible underwear lines and that it was inappropriate and could be unduly arousing to the brothers. I was caught off guard and didn't really know what to say. I thought plenty but was a good company man and didn't say anything but sure ok. I talked to my wife, she was appalled then laughed about it. She didn't change a thing, especially since apparently as she pointed out, many sisters are much worse than her and wear even tighter clothes and reveal the same if not more. This was early nineties and her attitude was beginning at that time to rebel against all already anyways. Although I laugh about it now, its still creepy and awkward to say the least. Sorry if tmi, but that's kinda the point of this thread I guess. I really can't stand that guy now, thank god he's no longer my bil.
Wait... was your bil talking about his own sister?!
