Hot, stuffy Kingdom Halls! omg turn on the A/C plz

by seawolf 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  seawolf

  At my hall, in the spring and summer, it would almost always be SO STUFFY in there that I couldn't breathe! I swear the mugginess in there was STIFLING! I don't know how many times I was there and couldn't take it anymore and left.....as soon as I'd open the door and go outside it was like a cold front just came through! The worst time: The memorial. I'd see just about everyone there using their Watchtowers/Awakes to fan themselves and the elders sitting there doing nothing. Temperature outside of 80 with 170 people inside and a carpet that was just shampooed the day before and has enough water in it to keep a whale alive for a week. ugggggggg I don't know how many times I was about to blow my stack. A few times I was about to offer to pay them $10 to run the thing for an hour but I knew I'd get looked down on for not being strong and not paying enough attention to the talk.

  *sigh* the fond memories of this bring a tear to my eye.

  I know there are has to be a lot of other KH climate victims out there. Let's hear your stories!
• 

  cruzanheart

  District conventions in Ft. Worth. They always kept the auditorium hot as blazes while the Really Important People in Administration had all the air conditioning. Actually, the only KH I was ever really comfortable in (neither too hot nor too cool) was the old one in Frederiksted, St. Croix. Louvered OPEN windows, overhead fans, and a tropical breeze. Now that's comfort. We also had a nightly floor show (or should I say wall show): the two geckos that lived behind the Spanish text and English text on the platform. They'd come out to catch bugs during the evening meetings and it really passed the time nicely watching them line up for the kill. I'm sure the speakers thought I was paying rapt attention to their talks!

  Nina (of the Tropical Class)
• 

  outbackaussie

  The fist hall I remember was not actually a KH just a community hall the cong had to hire. Its roof leaked when it rained, and the tin creaked in summer with the heat...you'd nearly pass out with it I was only 4, my little bro had to have been 2.5...not a great place for such little ones surely?

  LOL@ the geckos on the wall...cruzan! That would have certainly helped pass the time.
• 

  cruzanheart

  Hey, Tif - where in the Outback do you live? I spent 3 years in Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula. Talk about hot . . . .

  Nina
• 

  wheelwithinwheel

  Goin to summer ass. where the auditorium was normally a/cd. No air conditioining everyone fanning many passing out. Couldnt figure why the auditorium a/c always broke down at ass. time. It worked fine the rest of the year. Then someone told me WT insisted on keeping the bill cheap with the auditorium administration and so had the a/c turned off. After all, whats the problem, as someone else mentionned, the WT big-shots were assigned to sit in the a/c adm. lounge.
• 

  Matty

  This was posted on the usenet group some time ago by someone called Jason, I thought it was quite amusing!

  Here are a few ideas that might help the brothers decide who should be put
  in charge of that pesky thermometer, and how they should decide what
  temperature to keep it at.
  
  1) The brother put in charge should be an appointed brother. This only
  stands to reason, since he would have to be mature enough to withstand and
  deal with all of the criticism that this post would entail.
  
  2) The brother should not have a vested interest in what the temperature
  should be. This means he should not have a wife, mother, mother-in-law or
  sister who is suffering from P.M.S., is pregnant, has a baby or small
  children, be pre menopausal, going thru menopause, or be post menopausal. (a
  single, orphaned brother would be perfect)
  
  (if you have ever been irritated at the brother who set the controls,
  imagine finding out that you are related to him...and then imagine the ride
  home from the Kingdom Hall)
  
  3) This brother should not be the sort that wears tee shirts and shorts
  outside in the middle of winter. Obviously he has no concept of what 'cold'
  means. He should also not be one who wears a sweater in the middle of a heat
  wave, as 'heat' means nothing to this man.
  
  4) Being hard of hearing and nearsighted is an asset, because the brother
  would not be distracted from either his duties, or his enjoyment of the
  meeting, when brothers or sisters shoot him 'looks' and whisper about the
  current Kingdom Hall temperature.
  
  5) The brother should have lots of other responsibilities. (This makes it
  harder for those with complaints to track him down.)
  
  6) Ideally, this brother should be from ANOTHER congregation. (Possibly
  he can go into the hall before the meeting, set the temperature, and then
  leave.)
  
  7) It might be possible for him to keep a box of lap blankets, shawls or
  fans in the closet of the Kingdom Hall. Uncomfortable sisters or brothers)
  could avail themselves of added warmth or a cooling aid.
  
  (Bottles of chilled water are NOT necessary.)
  
  8) A brother with a medical background would be helpful, because then he
  could correctly access whether the sister (or less usually, brother) is
  actually suffering from hypothermia or heat stroke, and act accordingly.
  
  (Note: a legal contract could be drawn up absolving the brother in case
  someone should "catch their death of cold", or "die of heatstroke")
  
  9) The brother who is put in charge of the internal temperature of the
  Kingdom Hall should be the same one that is put in charge of opening and
  closing the doors during the meeting. ("drafts" are a whole subject unto
  themselves, and should be considered accordingly.)
  
  10) The brother in charge of the thermometer should not be dyslexic. It
  is necessary for him to tell the difference between 59' and 95'.
  
  re: The subject of "drafts";
  
  A "draft" is ANY gust of wind or air that enters a building and comes
  into contact with the skin or hair of any human. A "cold draft" is subject
  to criticism (see #1) of the above list.) A "warm draft" does not exist. Any
  moving air that is warm is either: too hot, too stuffy or too annoying.

  Edited by - matty on 3 December 2002 8:9:23
• 

  Mutz

  The Elder who took our Book Study would insist on the brother reading wearing a suit jacket, even in the middle of summer! I used to make sure I always left my jacket at home just so I wouldn't be reduced to a pool of sweat if I was asked to read. After a day sweating my nads off at work the last thing I wanted was to spend my evening doing the same.
• 

  seawolf

  hehe I totally forgot about the conventions! yeah some of those were pretty bad--especially when you'd sit near the top where all the heat would pool. My hall brings back worse memories though. I guess it's because it was so frequent. There aren't any ceiling fans in there either so when no a/c it just stagnates in there. ugggg talk about body odor hehe
• 

  ronin1

  Dear Seawolf:

  At least you had heat.

  One of the many reasons I stopped attending the meetings was because we would freeze in the KH in the winter. No heat. Always a problem. Could not get it fixed? Go figure.

  For two (2) years I cannot remember last when I went to a KH meeting in the winter. I told my husband and the elders that I would not be back until they fixed the heating system. Needless to say, I have not been back, even in the summertime.

  I was just wondering where all the contributions to the up-keep and maintenance of the KH was going, seeing how there was no heat.

  Just a thought.

  Ronin1