by 2escaped lifers 15 Replies latest jw friends
Greetings,
All you ex-"brothers": Was this just in my area (North Alabama), or do any of you remember there being an unstated, but real nonetheless, pecking order amongst the brothers that correlated the size of your meeting briefcase/bookbag to your level of spirituality?
Don't know why I was thinking about this today...
Brandon
Brandon,
It was not the size that mattered, but the kinds of publications you caried. This was especially so in service.
Though the elders and servants always carried bigger ones due to all the paperwork that was in them. And you could spot them in a crowd.
Hmmmmmm ... does size count ...?
ESTEE
Dave carried a huge bag, one of those catalog cases that all elders seemed to have. Everything fit in it too.
My service bag was heavy without anything in it.............not too smart. It gave me tennis elbow, so I started using a much lighter bag, and carried very little in it.
Yes I remember there was some stupid rules of such nature. That is what bored me so mmuch about being a witness. There used to be this one bag that seemed to fancy everyone from the mid fiftys onward. And if you did not have it you were not a witness, just more clown thinnking. The dummies!!!!
Yep, the higher you are the bigger the case.
Around here most elders carry these huge rectangular boxes.
It's like a status symbol.
A few years ago some were using a smaller version of these bags. They used to be referred to "my reaching out case".
When I was pioneering the"in" bag was also very big with a strap that would go around your shoulder.
For service I notices that some prefer to carry smaller cases or they will carry the mags in plastic protectors.
The existing hierarchy of positions generally seemed to require those with higher positions to carry larger bags. I remember as a kid carrying in my dad's huge foot wide 2 foot high bag. You could fit everything in there. After he stepped down from his elder position, he didn't carry such a large bag any longer. Elder's would have those large bags at the talk on sunday and the school/theocratic during the week. Some might even have them at the bookstudy.
I personally carried a small brief case to the meeting only on school/theocratic meeting. You needed something to carry all those books for a meeting like that. I remember being instructed that we should always have the Organization book and the Reasoning book at those meetings whether they were called for on a part or not. For the Sunday meeting and the bookstudy, I never carried more than the books needed so no bag needed unless I was going in field service afterwards, then I would bring my field service bag which was was a different type of bag than my meeting bag. It was probably about the same size but not a briefcase...easy to reach into. Funny, I can remember my first bag. My mother sewed it from some vinyl/leather-like material.
I still have a briefcase fetish, but only real leather, please.
My $500 eldub case is now resting peacfully in a closet, used to carry things to classes when I go for continuing ed. type things. I still have some nice cases, one that is completely unused now ... haven't been in the "service" in several years and another that has meeting materials should we be so moved to go.
Are they using laptop computers now with power point presentations?
ofcmad
Fraid not, technology is not generally accepted. I used a flip chart once and I though a couple of guys were going to have a heart attack. Congregation liked it.
