Are most JW's window washers? (page 6)

miseryloveselders

Miseryloveselders; Iam black, no one is saying all JW,s are window washers.

When I became A jw in 1971 in Pasadena Ca. , the cong. was predominantly black.

I knew one brother in our cong. that clean windows. The rest of the brothers,eletrician,

poster wokers, city workers, Teachers, salesmen,medic and A lawyer in other words

all sectors of the work force. Now when I return to that cong. 1987 those brothers

offspring, thier sons, A large percentage were car detailers, window washers( my nephew)

janitorial service and A few very few trade school. Again I was in that line of work and

made good money. But the bottom line for me, I want A better life for my kids.

I just find this hard to belive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your honesty! As I'm typing this I'm laughing to myself because I just find it unbelievable. Where there's smoke there's weed, so I imagine there's some truth to a signifiant portion of JWs being in the the cleaning business, but how significant, is what's disputable! Let this thread tell it, if you see somebody in Wal-Mart, and they have more than one bottle of Windex in their shopping cart, chances are they might be a Jehovah's Witness!! I just can't accept that. I've known JWs who make a living like this, but they are an extreme minority. Most are like you say, teachers, postal workers, nurses, etc.. Now I will concede that there are a fair amount of those in janitorial work, but this religion has always attracted that crowd. This religion is a social religion similar to the Nation of Islam in that it attracts those disaffected by the system. It attracts those who have an animosity towards this system of things. But even amongst those, its not a bunch of Windex addicts.

I agree about this organization pushing kids to downplay whatever talents or aspirations they may have, or in mine and your case, may have had. It's sickening that they do that. I've always said Jesus told his followers to keep on the watch, but he didn't say hold your breath while waiting on my arrival either, and thats what the WT wants us to do. It's not right to pressure someone to make a living according to how some old man in Bethel sees fit.

agonus

Miz,

I understand your points. However, just because many who attempt a career in creative, scientific, technical (or whatever field is frowned upon for Good Little Dubs) fail, does that mean we should discourage them from trying, especially for totally bogus reasons (i.e. the world is ending soon anyway and Jehovah does not look favorably upon such careers)? Hell no! And a hell of a lot of people fail at a hell of a lot of different jobs - not JUST their "dream job" before they find something that finally clicks, myself as case in point. Besides, I think you're overstating the failure rate here. I'm not talking about Witness kids (or any kids) looking to become the next Spielberg, Eddie Van Halen, Picasso, Bill Gates, or whatever. I'm talking about relatively non-glamorous jobs in those fields so evidently fraught with peril. To illustrate: I attended a little graphic design school here in the Midwest that was very small and just getting off the ground just over a decade ago. I personally did not do well at graphic design jobs (though I got a 3.4+ GPA at school) because, among other reasons, I did not thrive creatively under the gun. I enjoy art much more as a hobby now and am gainfully employed in the technical field (a much better fit for me). But I don't regret attending school for a second. It was the best 2 years of my life, I made wonderful friends, learned a hell of a lot, and produced work that today I'm still eminently proud of. However, what I can tell you is this: Some 12 years later, the school has grown, thrived, and the students are producing absolutely spectacular stuff and winning awards left and right, and the MAJORITY of them are and have been gainfully employed at local and non-local studios. And this is in Nebraska fer chrissakes! Should we tell kids not to apply at Pixar because they'll never be the next John Lasseter?

agonus

And Miz, would you not agree that the WT, among the world's "major" religions (more than a few million adherents), is one of the worst when it comes to encouraging personal/worldly success? Funny you mention Nation of Islam. I'm not black and I don't mean to bring race into this but when you put poor Sam Herd next to the dynamic Malcolm X, which of those guys do you think would be more proud to see young folks (especially young black folks) with a diploma in their hand?

jam

Good point and I agree they are not A bunch of windex addicts, that,s funny.

agonus

Windex cures everything. And all English words can be traced to Greek roots.

DanaBug

if you see somebody in Wal-Mart, and they have more than one bottle of Windex in their shopping cart, chances are they might be a Jehovah's Witness!!

Not important but, window washers don't use Windex. We used Joy dish detergent, the original unconcentrated. To this day, I can't stand the smell of lemon dish detergent. Reminds me of cobwebs and bug poo.

Scott77

bttt

life is to short

I really liked with agonus wrote here

(What IS eminently fair to say is that the reason MANY of these folks do what they do is because they felt it was their only viable career path due MAINLY to pressure from the WT - the well-documented anti-education, anti-materialism, anti-"worldly"-pursuits harangues they're constantly subjected to. And that is NOT right. If your great love is mathematics, computer science, the fine arts, teaching, or any field that may require the dreaded H-word (Higher Ed), you shouldn't throw away your potential IF you have the means to pursue it just because Slavey Sez. )

When I got married my husband was a window washer, he was the type B kind who did not really want to work. He worked 20 hours a months 5 hours a week, I kid you not. He made no money but I was young and he was older and had me convinced that was what Jehovah wanted and that Jehovah always and I mean ALWAYS picked up the slack all I needed was faith.

The first month of our marriage I was yelled at told I was lazy, etc because my husband did not make enough money to please the other JW's in the hall. What business of their what I do not understand because as soon as I was married I never took anything from anyone. When I realized Jehovah was not picking up the slack I got a job waitressing and worked 30 to 35 hours a week plus pioneered.

Now I have my own cleaning business and I work about 50 hours a week. I am tired and frustrated because this is not what I wanted from life. Yes I make a good living but I work hard and I would have loved to have went to school and had a good job that I really enjoyed instead of thinking that they system was ending any minute.

I blame myself for being so stupid but also the WT for misleading me.

LITS

Witness 007

The one Brother I spoke to at the Convention this year.....have a guess what he does......WINDOW CLEANING! I nearly choked on my lunch. The guy cleaning the windows at our coffee shop had an Awake in his back pocket!

If you ask them 89% will confirm they are Witnesses......56% will confirm they Pioneer. I did it for 5 years.

OnTheWayOut

When I came into the cult in the U.S. deep-south Bible belt, maybe half of the JW men in the city were working in cleaning for someone or for themself. I was no exception. I worked a few years for an elder, doing the janitorial jobs including carpets and windows and a bunch of tile floor stripping and waxing. While these were decent-paying jobs, they offered no security toward a future- the jobs came and the jobs went, and like LITS's husband, many worked enough to get by without saving.

Are most JW's window washers?

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