So I started working at my new job in December. There is one person in my department who is a JW. Then there is another JW who works in my building, who just started going to my old hall about 6 months ago.
One day as he was walking by he saw my nametag on the cubicle. He recognized the last name (my little sister's last name since my mom has remarried). So he finds out I am related to my mom. I got a message through our interoffice messenger program that just said "I know your mom." Okay, that was a pretty creepy start. So I find out that he goes to my old hall. I went to my stepdad's public talk a couple months ago and that was the first time I met him. He occasionally sends me messages asking how I am doing.
Today he sends me a message asking me how I like living where I am now. I talk about how nice the people are in my neighborhood and how I didn't think it was going to be that way since the neighborhood doesn't have a great reputation. I bring out how much nicer it is than the neighborhood I was living before. Then he makes this comment: "That's funny, because it mostly people in (name of area) that deterred you."
Maybe it seems like a minor comment but it sets a major precident for how I was perceived leaving by, not only my family, but by all the JW's I knew. They are still convinced that I didn't leave because the doctrines are BS. They are convinced that it was other people (worldlies) that drew me out.
I agree that I really shouldn't care what they think. The problem is how I've been set up to be the prime example of how "bad associations spoil useful habits." In the sports world they call it "bulletin-board material." That's when a team takes something an oppenent says and pins it up in the locker room as extra motivation. I hate the fact that I've been misrepresented and I'm no doubt being used to deter JW's from getting close at all with "worldly" people. Because if you give those wicked worldly people a finger, they'll take the whole arm. The worst thing is that I can imagine how my mom and stepdad are drilling this into my little sister.
If I wasn't using an office communicator with this fellow, I would have set the record straight. I don't know, maybe this is much ado about nothing. Just a little irritating.