by Heartofaboy 21 Replies latest jw friends
I found other 'unskilled' JW's guarded their jobs very closely & said they did not need any help.
But then they return to their home congregations and complain about being overworked and burnout from the quickbuilds. Actually, if they didn't have the excuse of going to another Quickbuild, they'd have to go to their regular congregation meeting (easy choice!).
In the 1950s –1960s, Kingdom Halls were built the old-fashioned way, not pre-assembled walls, etc.
So, my husband an experienced carpenter would always be involved and then quickly forgotten when the building was complete. Nada.
When there was shrubbery to be transplanted by non-tradesman, they weren’t available or willing. Working all week, as a carpenter was
then hard and grueling, no coffee breaks and no automatic hammers. So one Saturday, building a new Kingdom Hall he stayed for the
morning and called it quits realizing there were better uses of his talents and time.
Great! It was something to do other than service, meetings, etc. A little break from the norm. Everyone tries to get in on something like this so they don't have to do what they hate.
I did "tile" work in a few quick builds. I enjoyed it. The people I worked with were great people. I worked hard, and they seemed to appreciate the help. Don't understand why they haven't asked for my help for a few years? Oh that's right I'm an apostate!
I spent a few years on a purchasing team for the regional building team. Being female didnt always go down so well as our overseer used us for all sorts of tasks that others thought should only be alloted to bros. It was hard work and long hours with a fair bit of personal expense. Often nights spent sleeping pretty rough in local bros and sis homes while we worked on their builds. A few fun memories, but not many.
North West UK assembly hall build was done over a few summers ...remember a lot of money being spent on it...
Loz x
I used to go to them to meet chicks.
Like Found Sheep, I did tile work as well.
I've worked on KH builds and one assembly hall build. For sisters, if you didn't want to get stuck cleaning or in food service, you had to 'know' someone. Back then, a RBC brother went to my congregation so I lucked out.
The experience was enjoyable and it was a good way to skip field service and meet brothers from other areas.
I was totally ignored at a quick build I volunteered for in the mid 90s (because I wasn't a certified anything at the time) until a pressure washer broke and I stepped in with my tools and fixed it. Then the overseer thanked me and asked me if I could also fix a portable generator that also broke and I did. As some of you might imagine (based on your own similar experiences), it didn't take long for some brothers to become noticeably jealous as they quickly noticed attention was no longer on them... I thought: "how incredibly childish"... so much so that I decided to "fade" from the quick builds because I realized I was only doing it to count my time without going to FS... the whole testosterone circus seemed completely stupid and pointless to me at the time (in one of my first brief moments of clarity)...
During the 70's and 80's when there was a KH built or a remodel, all the sisters felt they were the most qualified to be the Interior Decorator. Many good friendships were forever lost over the arguments of who was better qualified to choose the curtains, the plastic plants, shag carpet and of course the home made bible-themed quilt on the wall. It was a race to see who would be chosen to paint a mural of the paradise on the wall, which strangely always included children that strongly resembled their own brats.
I was working for a brother in the construction trade and working for a FULL day - week was very important to me since my wife just had a baby ($$$).
One day this bro. is driving the crew to a job, and we pull up to a quick build and he proceeds to tell us that we are going to work here for two days. Since this whole jw building thing was new to me I went along,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Well, he did not pay anyone on the crew for those days, he said is was our offering to God. That really hurt, summertime in construction is for making money since the winter is pretty bare for work.
Perhaps if he had let everyone know ahead of time what to expect it would not have been so stressful later on.
Years later I worked in the first aid trailer at several sites, that was not bad, but at one the overseer would not allow any sisters to be alone in the
trailer with me . Yea right, like I'm some kind of molester.
