The privileged Bethel speakers and the rest of us Jamokes.

by RULES & REGULATIONS 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  RULES & REGULATIONS

  Cicero,Illinois 1970's

  Our four day assemblies in the 1970's through the 1980's were pure torture.

  They were held at a horse race track in Cicero,IL in the smoking hot and humid month of July. They charged around $2 for parking. It smelled awful from the horse barns that were located next to the track. There were no cool breezes. Just stagnant hot air.

  We were told not to hold seats before each assembly. You arrived one hour before the start of the assembly and all the seats that were in an enclosed area with air conditioning were all taken. You would have no choice but to sit outside in the sweltering sun or sit in the stands that had some shade. Sitting outside for 8 hours gave you heat stroke.

  The afternoon session always had a Bethel speaker (who probably stayed at a nice hotel downtown and was privilged to hear the assembly in the enclosed air conditioned area). As we are all suffering heat stoke sitting outside in the smoking hot sun, here comes the asshole Bethel speaker walking with an attendent holding an umbrella over his head. They walk him over to the podium ( which is shaded )and he gives his 1 hour boring monotone talk. He finishes his talk and here comes the attendent holding the umbrella over the Bethel speakers head to walk him over to his air-conditioned seat.

  The rest of us JAMOKES will go thru this another 3 days.
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  Honesty

  My ex and I thought we were going to have to endure a 3 day DC in the hot and humid heat in a southern city.

  The steps were at a 45 degree angle and the uppermost seats weren't affected by the insufficient A/C system.

  Instead of wrestling the steps with 2 small children, one an infant 6 months old we decided to make a pallet in the spacious hallway in an out-of-the way location along with other parents.

  Within 10 minutes of the start of the boasting session, we were confronted by an overzealous snot-nosed punk attendant who had to be at least 17 years

  old.

  The little mustard-yellow shitting punk told us we had to go inside the auditorium because we couldn't be disturbing others by being in the hallway.

  We gathered up our children, went back to the 'approved' motel, checked out (fortunately I had paid with a bank debit card), loaded

  up our "pioneer" van and drove an hour to the beach and a nicer motel room that was cheaper than the 'WT approved' motel.

  We stayed a week and enjoyed the DC immensely just as it should have been enjoyed....

  We went AWOL.
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  cobaltcupcake

  Yep, those 4- and 5-day (don't forget the international assemblies) conventions were torture.

  The Odd Life of Jehovah's Witnesses - A Good Opportunity for Discomfort
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  LongHairGal

  RULESANDREGULATIONS:

  There is nothing to like about any outdoor stadium in the summer months and since I am "out" I never have to deal with this again! The heat, the saving of seats is something I won't miss along with boring speakers droning on...

  While there may have been a happy moment or two when you saw someone you knew, all in all it was an ordeal of a bygone era as far as I am concerned. Even if I were still in the religion there is no way I would suffer an outdoor convention even for one day!
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  designs

  Jamokes- had to look that one up, pretty funny
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  Found Sheep

  I went to that DC one year watched an old lady sister fall down the steps
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  blondie

  I was at one of those Cicero assemblies. Many Wisconsin jws escaped to Green Bay to avoid the bad neighborhoods. I remember one year they sent us d2d in a "bad" neighborhood. We managed to get seats inside because we were helping a old, disabled sister. Old evidently trumps baby. But I can remember the sunscreen, big umbrellas, water jugs, ice in the coolers and those little fans that hang around your neck. Then we were assigned to new indoor stadiums. I went to 8 day conventions as a child.

  Didn't one GB die on the stage at a convention?
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  NVR2L8

  I remember a convention at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This stadium was originally designed to have a retracting roof so it doesn't have A/C. The roof was completed years after the Olympic games but it no longer could retract...so mid-july this stadium is like a giant sauna. Anyways, at each side of the stadium there were digital clocks showing the time and temperature...early afternoon the reading is at 37C or 99F and everyone is fanning themself with whatever they can get their hands on...all I could see was that temperature display. The brothers found a solution to ease our pain...they turned off the temperature display. I also remember having a 7 day convention at Yankee Stadium...the French sessions were outsilde the stadium under huge tents next to the open air cafeteria and the rails. Huge sewer rats travelled under the seats on their way to the food processing area. A whole week of endoctrination sitting on folding chairs was surely something I will never submit myself to ever again.
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  finally awake

  I'd like to think that I would have never sat through even one day at an outdoor assembly. The miserable indoor facilities were bad enough.
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  PaintedToeNail

  blondie-I remember one of the GB dying at a convention. Not that long ago, maybe 10 years? Was he in Hawaii? Can't remember which one it was though.