by minimus 13 Replies latest jw friends
I ask this because I have noticed that many people in your life just don’t communicate like they could.
I realize I come from a different generation but does anybody ever use the phone and give someone a call?
I know of people who never answer their phone unless they listen to a message that would be left. You are lucky if you get a text.
By the way , this has been a pet peeve of mine for years. 📞☎️
"You never write, you never call . . ."
We were in the midst of an evacuation last fall due to wildfires within a couple of miles of home and there was not one call of concern, can I help, etc.
Cc, that’s unbelievable! You know who your true friends really aren’t!
Not many at all. My spouse and I notice if we hear from any still in family members, it's all about WT and the goings on of all the JW's. They don't talk about anything else.
JW "friends"?....I haven't heard a peep out of any of them in over 5 years. Well, one who needed something from me.
It seems that we only hear things from people when WE reach out.
This seems to be an issue not just with WT. It seems to be a issue with non JW's as well. It is a sad state of affairs. Everyone just seems to be into themselves. Go figure!!!
You know who your true friends [and family] really aren’t!
A good and up-to-the-minute OP, minimus!
Thanks!
Minimus I agree with you on your thinking. It seems if you are not on facebook, have a cell phone/type writer or e-mailed hardly ever use the phone. The only time they would call me is to ask me if I read their e-mail they sent me or have you look at Facebook. I would tell them no and if you want me to know something please give me a call on the phone. You would think I ask them to eat poison by their reaction. This era we live it where no one wants to talk to another person on the phone is very baffling to me. I feel this society we live in where everyone feels they need to be connected to everyone 24-7 is emotionally troubling. This site is the only thing I am on which requires me to look it up on the computer and read what others have to say. If I don't want to I don't have to.
As far as my family is concerned they don't ever check up on us. After all we are mentally disease now. My new friends ask me weekly how I am doing. Still Totally ADD
This seems to be an issue not just with WT. It seems to be a issue with non JW's as well. It is a sad state of affairs. Everyone just seems to be into themselves. Go figure!!! -- ToesUp
I have an uncle, nearly 80 years old, who's always been a real people person. He has telephoned as well as visited his friends and family since I was little. He lamented to me that no one seems to reach out and take the initiative. Even at his age, he will travel a great distance to see someone -- an old friend, a former neighbor, a dying relative . . .
He is a faithful and loyal person who does his duty and has had no regrets.
My wife is great about keeping up with family even with her still in JW sister, they all talk a couple of times a month. And once a year the three sisters take a trip together.
On my side of the family l've recently had a different situation. My seventy year old life time JW cousin (female) stays in touch with me.
We talk about her adventures in her assisted living facility....as there is always some kind of drama going on. There's a fair number of JW's in the facility so she can get a ride to the supermarket, get to her doctor and have friends in common.
Then she dropped a bomb shell on me.....for the past year and a half she's been sneaking out (takes a cab) late Friday evenings and visits a biker bar which features live heavy metal house band.
The back story is that she first visited it with a fellow JW who got the address mixed up with a more sedate place.
A couple of hours later........ her friend long gone, she caught a ride home with one of the band members.
She decided this was going to be her secret world.
"The bikers started calling me Grandma when I got up and danced with a couple of them...fast numbers not the slow."
I hadn't wanted to ask but did so anyway...."How in the heck were you able to dance?"
"I just take my walker with me and I move around, then they call me Steel Wheels!"
"The house band will talk to me between sets ( between sets!). And sometimes when I show up.......... They announce that Grandma's in the house and everybody starts to clap and whistle. Some of their girl friends will sit with me and talk about their families. Everyone is really nice to me and I feel so special! I really look forward to my visits."
"Yeah I get it........... but you know sometimes there's trouble."
"If it looks like a fight is about to break out (if a fight is going to break out!! dear god) four of the biggest guys get between me and what ever was happening....... I'm sitting down their standing guard....they look like giants I call them my Nephilim".
I don't hear from her for about a month, not unusual. Then I get a phone call.
"Hi I'm Brother SO and SO and I am working on your cousin's funeral service and wanted to get some insights as to the kind of person she was."
I'm a little shocked so I asked him why he called me. He told me she had two names in her private papers to call in this situation.......... Her brother....... a life long nobody institutionalized run of the mill JW ( my description not his)....... and me her non believing cousin.
I answered his family related questions........ spoke about her wonderful warmth and concerns for others but never went into this other part of her life. She was not about to talk about her Friday night visits to the Biker,s bar where everyone knew her name.Nor was I.
R.I.P Granny Steel Wheels.
I watch my teenage child. He texts, instagrams, snap chats but no one ever calls. They don't go to the mall together (like the good ole days/malls are dying). Everything is at their fingertips. Their music (we used to have to go to the mall to buy our CD's, tape, albums, etc.). Remember Turtles? Now we have Apple music, Amazon, Food delivery, Netflix, Apple TV, video games (no more arcades) etc. Who needs to go out? Most of his friends don't even drive! They don't want to! It's crazy! You would think most of these kids would want to go out, like we did. My son invites some over and they eat and watch movies.
Even when someone gives you a gift. No more thank you cards. You say thank you or text someone a thank you. This is where I draw the line. I make him send a well written thank you card. It's the old timer in me . lol
The telephone is a thing of the past. No more dragging a 5 foot cord around the corner and into another room until it is stretched out to 10 feet. ha ha
I really did date myself with this post.
This is a new generation and it confuses the hell out of my spouse and I. I guess we did the same thing to our parents. Many moons ago!!!
