Back to the food..........The saying there was "Its the best food in the world before they cook it" The coffee was the really bad. They would take a 55 lb. bag of good coffee beans and boil the shit out of it.The joke was if anyone could find the guy that made the coffee, and kill him, our production would go up and armageddon could finally come. When they had liver for lunch only half the family showed up, which (saved them money)........an old timer named Wilbur Ruth about 85 years old would......would walk through the factory and tells what was for lunch each day, (we never knew ahead of time) he would say "liver to make you quiver and ice cream to make you shiver"...............
Poor Wilbur..........One day my friend Tom Plank operator of Press 6 and me pulled Wilbur aside and asked him why he never got married "Oh.......I WANTED to, but back in the 30's and 40's we couldn't get married and stay at bethel we had to made a vow of celibacy.........and armageddon was going to COME any day..........When Knorr showed up with a wife after an assembly in the early 50's that changed everything.......but for me it was too late............I was in my late 60's......Who would have someone like me?"
Then there were the married couples..........who never had kids. Not allowed to at bethel. Some of those women were down right bitter.......armageddon was coming any day, why would you want to have kids?
One of the bitterest old ladys there was Ester Lopaz .......One of "sister" Knorrs best friends. I meet her on Doc Dixon's table it was, what we called a "dead" table. Dead because no one talked to each other.You had the righteous "company men" and the factory workers on the same table. You would go, eat and get the hell out of there.
At bethel when a plate of food came on a table, the table head would pass it down the right side, then when the next plate came, it would go down the left side, so everyone would get a fair chance at some food. Not on the good doctor's table his wife would always get it first.............so if you sat on the other side, close to the end you were screwed. I was two seats from the end. One day we were having fried chicken......by the time it got to the end, all was left was chicken backs...so I took three backs...they passed it out..........came to the end again.........all backs...........did it again........all backs.........So there I'm with a plate of all chicken back bones piled high.......Dixon looks over at me and says "You sure are making a PIG out of yourself, brother Casarona"!
The love started my first day at the table. Ester said "Who are you?"......."I'm brother Casarona"...."Well, were are you from, brother Casarona?" I said "Kansas" (though I was raised in California, I pioneered in Kansas, you would never tell an old timer you were from California they hated bethelities from Califorina, way to liberal) She said "well, where were you from before Kansas?"...............I said.......Errrrrr California"..........she said "IT FIGURES" (all ready judged)..."Well" I said "You sure can feel the LOVE on this table!"........She said "WELL sometimes love is having to correct the brothers when they NEED it"..............I said "WELL SISTER Lopaz I think I'll let the BROTHERS do that".....................so the war began.
After 4 years, I turned in my 30 day notice in february 1974........everyone thought armageddon was right around the corner...........and thus any one leaving Bethel, the house of God ( and his protection) the biggest possible fool.............At my last lunch at bethel, Ester looked over at me and with this big grin said "You better eat EVERYTHING on your plate...........because when you leave here, you are going to STARVE!".............I didn't say a word, but I thought to myself, I would rather starve out there, then eat one more meal in here with all you self rightious assholes. I guess God only had enough power to save those at bethel.
In 1996, I made my only trip back to bethel with my wife and kids.......I made a point of tracking "sister" Lopaz down. YES!........... The old bat was still alive........well in her 90's. I had her paged.........She looked at me and said "YOU, YOU...........YOU".........I said "Yes its me, and you were WRONG!"......I grabbed her hand and put it on my belly and said.........."I DID'T STARVE to death, as you can see!"
I was in the group that got the first new boy talks in the spring of 1970. There were 8 of them, Knorr gave the "sex at bethel talk" (or why there is no sex, at bethel talk)........I would give a $1,000 bucks for a copy of that talk.........there were 53 of us guys and 3 "sisters" in there.......the girls faces were red..One of the quotes was knorr saying "I don't want you to do anything with IT, except PEE..........for 4 years"
I was also the first group of bethelites to be assigned out to other congerations. Before our group, you would have to go to Brooklyn Heights or King County for a year.......If you were good, they would give you an outside hall. My hall was Inwood.........at the very tip of Manhattan. It was a 45-60 mins. subway ride. So book studies was a 2 hour train ride, for a 1 hour meeting.
On my first ride there..........I met a guy, a bethelite who was leaving after 4 years, My first day was his last. He was only 24 years old...........He looked like 40......So I asked him "Do you have any words of advice?"..................."YEA".......he said....."Keep your mouth SHUT and do you work......they don't give a shit about you here"...........WOW I thought this guy as a BAD attitude! That will NEVER happen to me! HA!
Part 3 tomorrow
