carla, I am offering faders carte blanche to count all their hours they spend chatting with me. Keep the elders off their back. Hubby hasn't taken me up on this offer yet. He still thinks Witnesses honestly count their hours. I also have supreme confidence in his natural laziness.
NH&H, we invited a couple from the Kingdom Hall in to our home. They will always be fringe Witnesses because the hubby is such a character. The wife is a sourpuss. After dinner which included home-made apple pie, she waxed eloquent of the blueberry pie she remembered in her youth. mmmmmm. So a few weeks later I sent them a home-made blueberry pie. The hubby still talks about this pie and other small acts of kindness to their family. This elderly couple likely need more support than they are getting but their children active in the service have no time, and the faded and disfellowshipped don't visit that often.
And you are right, my hubby is viewed with "sympathy".