Your most DISTURBING WATCHTOWER Bethel/Branch experience? (No full names please)

by Balaamsass 165 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Quendi

  Hello, LongHairGal, and thanks for your comment. I don't believe the remark about testing was meant to endorse the notion of deliberately putting others through the wringer to find some kind of breaking point. I believe what the old Bethelite was saying was that life in Bethel was difficult, challenging and trying. The testing came from living in close proximity with others who themselves were flawed, imperfect human beings with no normal outlets and vents for their frustrations. New recruits often went to Bethel expecting to find a 'spiritual paradise' and instead realized that they deeply disliked at least half the people they worked with. My Pioneer Service School classmate took the statement as a warning of the problems he would have with personnel and personalities in the "House of God". His experience there bore out the truth of those words because the reality of the situation was that if there were people he really disliked at Bethel, he could be sure he was also a source of irritation and friction for others. That was simply the nature of life there.

  Quendi
• 

  SnakesInTheTower

  NOT disturbing..... maybe funny.... I got busted.

  I was a temp at WT Farms back around 1996 I think (about the time my JW mom remarried ... a non-JW, Harley ridin', ex-Navy SEAL, ex-Hell's Angel, the only way I remember the year...LOL)

  ....I digressed.... I was working on one of the Carpentry crews... including one crew that was doing all kinds of punch list items all around the property. It gave me unprecedented access to the whole property. As soon as anyone asked what crew I was on, I would say "Fine Carpentry".... boom.... no problem....

  One day, before lunch, we were working on the roof of one of the new residence buildings nailing 2x4's down on the edge of the roof to attach some sort of trim. Around lunch time, I stayed behind, not really wanting to go back to the locker room or my cottage (remember Green and Yellow Cottages... those were sweet .... basic satellite tv, full kitchen, etc.), change, eat, change, and go back to work. I had brought my camera with me and was taking panorama shots of the area. (I wonder if I still have these? ... if so, it would be beautiful as it was October, perfect weather, fall colors).

  The next day at Morning Worship™, an Announcement® was made that "for safety reasons, no one was to be on the roof taking pictures." Of course, whomever ratted me out (but never finding out who I was specifically), had no idea I actually was assigned to be there. The crew I was on got a good laugh about it and just said to take the pics when we working not during lunch.

  As an aside, I made that crew really happy because these under-caffeinated people were sharing a lousy 4-cup coffeemaker that barely spit out coffee in the limited time their decent overseer allowed for a quick mid-morning break. One evening, on the way back from a meeting in town, I had stopped and purchased a basic 12-cup maker, and also went to the commissary and got some really good coffee. I snuck away the next morning to set up the coffee maker and make a full pot. When the crew came in and smelled the coffee, you would have thought they had gone to Paradise™ already.

  I just always found it amusing and distubing the little bitty things that Bethel would make Announcements® about.

  Snakes (Rich )
• 

  LongHairGal

  Quendi:

  Thanks. I am glad this guy didn't mean the remark that way and was simply referring to imperfect people getting on each others nerves.

  However, I did meet a few (anointed) who acted as if their farts didn't smell and tried everybody's patience around them with cantankerous attitude and bossiness. Even back in the day when I was a "believer" I thought their arrogance was very ungodlike.
• 

  3rdgen

  In the early 70's a CO came through with the message that if you weren't pioneering you would soon become bird food at the big A. Being in my earnest early 20's I hopped on board and even convinced my 1st husband to sign up with me. Not long after, the society sent out a letter asking for skilled tradesmen to come and build at Patterson.

  Hubby was highly skilled and energetic so we sent a letter saying we were pio's, he was a MS, and what his skills were. The reply was that since they had no use at the time for sisters they wouldn't take ME just to get HIM. I was actully releaved since I was pretty sure I never be able to handle Beth- hell life. I was also puzzled that if Armageddon was comming ANY DAY now, why were they starting such a huge building project????? Anyway.....

  Time marched on and my ex worked on many many quick-builds. Only after 30 yrs of marriage did I find out that : After working all day at the Quick-build he would take at least one like-minded brother with him to his hotel room where they would drink like fish, take some meth and find a local BROTHEL !!!!!! They kept each others secrets so NO ONE found out until my ex spilled the beans. Wouldn't he have added a lot of flavor at Patterson???? LOL
• 

  Paralipomenon

  I didn't attend Bethel, but my family was one of those that made it a family trip to go and visit. (and come back with magazines our congregation wouldn't see for two months)

  We had visited the canadian bethel three times and the brooklyn bethel once. Though when I married my witness wife, I told her my evil apostate feeings I told her I'd support her decision to remain a witness. My family lived in Toronto so when we'd come visit I'd offer to take her to bethel. She always refused which was more of a relief to me.

  After she finally left the witnesses as well, I had to ask: "Why didn't you ever want to visit Bethel when we were close, it was always a big deal for my family growing up" She told me that the only people she knew that went to bethel were hyper-spiritual chauvenistic pigs and had no desire to visit a place full of people like that.

  I did think of a story though, when we visited Brooklyn at the end of the tour we were at the Bethel Litterature store. I liked to collect old books and they had a few old tracts and copies that were out of print. I checked my pockets and I had enough for one of the books so I wait in line and brothers are coming in and out just pushing by me. I guess local congregations would fill their orders directly there. I point to the book I wanted and unload a fistful of change on the counter. The brother is counting it out then puts his finger on a canadian nickel and slides it dramatically across the counter and says "No foreign coins". I didn't have any more change and they made me leave without my book. After getting in the car my dad asked what I got so I told him what happened. My dad was pretty upset and I took it upon myself to growl about this person as well. My mom snapped and sided with the bethel person and that Jehovah's Organization needed to be careful with every cent since they run on donations.

  That stopped the conversation but my dad took me aside at the next stop and told me that regardless of what my mom said, people should be respectful to each other, especially brothers and sisters.
• 

  Dagney

  The last time I was at Bethel was Feb 2005. I was out but with a group of JW's for business and I knew they wanted to tour because they had never been. I had, stayed on property, had a good time, years ago, don't need or want to see it now. I purposely didn't bring a skirt so I could bow out of the tour and just shop or something. They called ahead and got "special permission" from the personal friend to let me take the tour and eat in the dining room in pants. Whoop-di-flu****g-doo.

  So we were waiting in the lobby of one of the buildings, the one with the big glass globe, and it is snowing outside. The poor sister that was charged with the task of washing the glass in the external and internal doors of the entry had a skirt on. She was trying to do this ladylike, struggling to keep her knees together and bending down and reaching up in the freezing weather. Yep, no slacks on the cleaning crew ladies, only for construction, confirmed by the guide. Doesn't sound so bad writing this now, but it sure pissed me off then. That whole place really was different than the one I visited in the '80's. Back in the day, even though it was after the Ray Franz incident, it was still very fun, and people seemed mostly happy and friendly...and there were shennigans going on still. This time, we passed Bethel workers on the street and they didn't say "hi", and the ones we met onsite just were different, grumpy. I would be too I guess. So much for the "spiritual paradise." TM I overheard the guy at the front desk say to another worker, "if you had told me 20 years ago I'd be still sitting at this reception desk, I would have thought you were crazy."

  No kidding brother.
• 

  Dogpatch

  Quendi says,

  I don't believe the remark about testing was meant to endorse the notion of deliberately putting others through the wringer to find some kind of breaking point.

  You are correct. Actually Kite had a sense of humor, and it really didn't mean any more than that. If you listen to a few of his sermons, which I still have somewhere on cassette, plus I have watched him speak, he mixed an unusual brew of humor with WT fear tactics. That's why so many JWs liked him, he was almost human and provided comic relief to the dire messages.

  Randy
• 

  Sulla

  How many 19 yr olds are in danger of enlarged prostates?

  You got that right, LittleMac. When I got told to go get the physical, the guy running the line offered me some phlegmatic advice, "Be sure to wash your anus."

  Sulla: "Huh?"

  Guy: "Be sure your anus is clean."

  Sulla: "Why?"

  Guy: {shrug}

  Good times. I also had a roommate a very kind, very stupid guy. I had gotten into a little trouble for writing signs and posting them on the bindery line; un-clever stuff like, "Line XX: workers' paradise," and so on. Anyhow, my roommate abruptly stopped sleeping in the room and working out with me in the weightroom. Wouldn't talk to me at all: he'd show up at 5:30 to grab some clothes and then leave.

  Finally, I cornered him and asked what the problem was. He had heard I was in trouble for making signs and had interpreted this to mean I was, like, inscribing pentagrams on the factory floor. Turns out, he was quite concerned about the occult and didn't want to take any risks.
• 

  Ding

  I've never been to Bethel, so I don't have any experiences to relate.

  Just reading through all of this, I'm struck by what a shock these types of things must be to someone who goes to Bethel really believing that he or she will be experiencing spiritual paradise at the headquarters of Jehovah's clean, happy organization as portrayed in WT literature.
• 

  talesin

  Guy: "Be sure your anus is clean."

  Sulla -- ugh :( how many pervs molested young men at that evil place? I hope you were safe.

  xo

  tal