Your worst convention experience. (page 4)

Aunt Fancy

Veterans Stadium in Philly! It was so hot and humid and we would put frozen wash clothes on our necks to try to cool us. There was one decent place to sit where you could get a little breeze under the cigarette sign and they blocked it off! I remember the last time I went there I had my Bible sitting in the seat beside me and I picked it up and it was so hot it burned my finger. That was the last year we went there because after that we traveled to Hampton, VA until they started using other indoor arenas. Everyone was so happy when they blew up Vet Stadium!!

gma-tired2

Any assembly at Dodger Stadium

RoseBowl 8 days in 1963

Enough said

notjustyet

This got me going a bit, really upset and semi woke me up regarding ttatt.

I reposted this from the Jehovahswitnessrecovery.com where I originally share the thought.

Seeing a 10 year old JW boy that was bound for life in a wheelchair (think Stephen Hawkings like) being moved by his father to a upper tier level area MARKED HANDICAPPED AREA blue painted marked off area ADA compliant area so he could get a better view of the DRAMA at the DC. He was laying down somewhat and could not see the stage and actors from the vantage point that the WTBTS wanted him to be which is at the back of the auditorium ground level.
The father was getting him situated when an attendant approached him and told him that they were not allowed to be in that area. I could see what was going on and thought that if I got involved and explained to the attendant that there is an Americans with Disabilities Act that would apply in this case that would allow him to be in that spot since it was marked out with blue paint etc.
The attendant was cordial but insisted that he would not be allowed to stay in that spot. The father who was packing up his son and moving him back down to the floor level said that it would be all right and not to worry about it.
I was LIVID!!! I could not cool down about this, I was bouncing off the walls and although I did not make a break for the door at that point, it was, and is a major piece of straw that tipped the scales, as it were, in my favor that Sunday afternoon at the DC, how ironic.
I would like to have thought that if it were me, I would have let the child who has very few things to look forward to, stay in that spot and if the boss over the attendants said anything I would have asked him "how would you like to be in the same situation as this child" and see if he got the innuendo.

Scummydross aka Nojustyet

cobaltcupcake

I got the bum's rush from a self-important attendant once, toward the end of my going to conventions.

My ex-husband had a 50% hearing loss, so he needed to sit in the hearing-impaired section and use the headphones. I was sitting with him waiting for the session to begin when this attendant came up to us and said I couldn't sit there. I protested and said I always sat with him in the hearing-impaired section. He wasn't having any of it and insisted that I had to sit separately from my husband. Twit.

Disgruntled and in a huff, I went down to the floor section and found a seat by myself a couple of rows from the stage. Just forcing myself to go to the convention had pushed me to the edge of my sanity.

Apparently, my inner shrieking showed on my face because my husband told me later that an attendant was assigned to keep an eye on me. I never noticed the guy, but he was sitting right behind me. What did he think I was going to do, rush the stage?

I think that was the only day I attended, and I never went to a convention again.

Designer Stubble

For Parents with Kids attending the 2013 DCs, please note the KM of April 2013: "Baby strollers should not be brought to the convention site". Good Luck!

wha happened?

Dodger Stadium. Oh the joy of sitting in the sun, next to Brother armpit and sister bad breath for hours. The best though was when our congregation had a stand for the food. The organization regarding food distribution was terrible, we were way behind making sandwhiches. They hardly gave us anything and it was gone in about 15 minutes. And boy oh boy do those 'dubs lose their new personality when they get hungry. Not to mention having to stop the atendants from grabbing food before the break for their family. I think I was yelled at less when I worked in fast food in high school.

Must have been the spirit

Julia Orwell

I once lived 5 hours away from the convention and was so wiped out Thurday night I decided to drive down in the morning. I was also very jittery because I'd been robbed that week and was very frightened of everything. Well, I drove the 5 hour trip, and got there at about 11:30 to a town I'd never been to, totally tired and flustered, and found a seat somewhere.

Well afterwards, people from my cong said, "Oh we saw you looking for a seat during the session." I thought, "Why didn't any of you come down and call me over?" I mean, everyone in the congregation knew I was the single sister from another region who was all by myself! Most people were pretty cool though because they knew my situation and said, "It's great that you even made it." But 100 of those nice comments got washed away by one nasty one: "Well you missed the first session. Why didn't you leave last night? Why didn't you leave earlier?" Huh?! HUH!?

That deflated me, but being used to going things alone, I got over it.

andys

Walking up and down the hills both ways barefoot just to get to assemblys............................. I hated them all and am so glad to be released mentally from the borg and also can now take my vacations and do whatever I want:)

Amelia Ashton

All were awful but Twickenham was the worst.

Buggies were not allowed in and my youngest had to be restrained most of the time because she had breathing problems and used oxygen for even a mild cold. She was fed through a tube directly into her stomach until she was 2 years old.

It was very hot and we found a spot on the grass outside the main stadium but could hear the tannoy. We had got nicely settled when a bro came along and said we couldn't sit on the grass we had to sit on the tarmac. By lunchtime the tarmac was melting and was stuck to our lovely brand new clothes bought especially for the assembley.

Because it was so hot Emma was drinking far more than usual and soaking her nappies right through to the buggy every hour so I quickly ran out. We had been "encouraged" to come by coach so I was only able to bring what I could physically carry. One coach was sufficient for 4 congregations so clearly very few took advantage of that fine direction and took their own cars instead.

When the tarmac was very obviously getting damaged by not just me but others too the brothers said we had to go into the stadium or out to the field used as car parking where there was grass but we couldn't hear anything. I went out to the field on my own.

Only a handful from my cong went on the coach and I never saw anyone else there I knew. It was the loneliest I had ever felt in my life with 2 miserable kids and no friends or anyone to help me.

The next day I arranged to meet another Mum there who also had two kids to see how she managed. After an hour her Mum took one of the kids and her brother and his wife took the other so she could go inside so I get left alone outside again.

After lunch we were told we could sit on the grass but I felt so ill from too much sun and struggling with a six month old and a 4 year old who then decided to run off as I was trying to move everything. We found her an hour later but it was hell and I felt like I was the worst mother on the planet for not controlling her and disturbing people by asking if they had seen her.

As I made my way back to the coach at the end of that second day I had already decided I wasn't going on Sunday.

The next week at a meeting an elder's wife who saw me struggling at the assembley mentioned she was shocked no-one offered to help me. I wish now I had asked her why she hadn't if she had seen me.

All of them were awful though.

Julia Orwell

I can't believe all those stupid little anal rules! Some rules are put in place by the hired venue's mgt but so many other stupid arbitrary ones are put on place by the wt. Fancy not letting a mum and kids sit on the grass or by the door! They're a bit more laid back here in Queensland, Australia, thank goodness!

Your worst convention experience.

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