Craige, it brought a smile to my face and an outloud laugh........omg.
I remember the days back in the 70's when , like you said you could spice up the demo's. I was a little girl maybe 8 when my dad did a broadway productions so to speak on stage. His meeting part was about a boy with a "bad heart condition"(puke) and he had the stage set up like a freakin hospital room. He went out a week before and rented a gurney, hospital sheets, hosptial skrubs, even down to the booties the doctors wear over their feet. He had another brother in the audience doing the narrating, another doing a fake heart beat thru the mic. It was quiet a sight to see. It was fun really. It must have caught my attention because i remember it vividly as if i were there right now.
Another time, he had a meeting part about a mom, who was discouraged and about to give up going to meetings because she was a single mother with two brat( my sister and me got to play a fun role). He set it up by us walking up to the stage, being brats, talking and fighting with each other, throwing gum wrappers on the floor, taking our baby dolls to meetings, coloring books, etc. which were all no no's. So we make it to the stage and end up playing with all the things my mom bought for us, and the point was that these things just distracted her and kept us from learning anything at the meetings. ( another puke). Well, sis and I were far to young to be totally humilated at what our dad made up do. It really was a way of life, being on stage at such a young age. It was quite often we were up there, and i remember thinking how fun it was to act bad, for none of that would ever be tolerated for us.
OK , this last one is the ultimate in a teenager (me) being embarrassed,,,,,,,, i am even embarrassed to tell it now. My dad had some part and he made my mom hide behind the side of the stage, there was a partition that lead to a side door. Anyway, I can't remember all the details but my mom was holding this parot on a stick, so no one could see her and talking as if it was the parrot talking, in one of those parrot voices(OMG) and the parrot talked about the freakin New Order. I can't remember it all, because me and a couple of girlfriends of mine walked very fast to the bathroom to bust up laughing, I was red with embarrassment and wondered if my mom was taking too many pills again that night to be such a idiot to do that. I still just shiver thinking how other must have know back then , mom and dad , just were not right in the head.
Thank God, ,,,,,,,,,,,,, at least it wasnt long,,,,,,, everyone was told to tone it down.
But damn, it was a little late for us, we had suffered such humiliation already , but that parrot thing was the worst. OMG,,,,,,,,, how retarded was that. I have seen almost as bad , many many times.
One time the watchtower reader, went to back up after reading the paragraph, to sit in the seat, and missed the darn thing by 2 feet. His ass hit the floor so hard, his feet flew up and the magazine went flying. This brother was 6'5 and huge. He got up red faced and I truly felt sorry for him, but God, I was 15 and had to snicker to myself. It was hard to not laugh. If he was hurt it would have been bad, but darn that stuff catches you off guard and you can't help but laugh. Still feel bad for laughing at that dorky brother.
Telling about all the things that my dad did, ,,, makes you understand why I am a basket case......lol .......... thank god they were never video taped, I might just cry.........lol
