Do you get tired of explaining your Witness past?

by logansrun 14 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Billygoat

  I don't get tired of it because I don't always offer the information up unless I think the person is truly interested. I think to the lady's comment of:

  Her: "Wow. You waited a long time to go to school. What, were you in the military or something?"

  A simple response of, "I'm a bit of a late bloomer and just started college later than most people." If they want to know the why behind that, I usually say, "I just decided to join the workforce right after high school. It took me a few years to arrange college into my life, but it's worked out for the best."

  Although I understand people wanting to get involved in a conversation, sometimes the questions they ask are all to nosy and personal.
• 

  joannadandy

  It can be annoying.

  At first I used to tell everyone at the drop of a hat. I would actually try and find a way to talk about it...(such a nerd). Now, I usually put it off. Or avoid it. Like others have mentioned, I usually try to pass it off with laughter, or quick little comments. However, that never seems to work. They usually dig for more and more info...but it usually ends up being the same conversation over and over again.

  "Yes we're the ones that knock on your door"

  "Yeah they don't celebrate holidays or birthdays"

  "Yeah they don't do blood transfusions"

  "Yes we don't have windows on our churches."

  Blah blah blah...
• 

  Jankyn

  I get tired of having to explain that there's more to having been raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses than not celebrating Christmas and going door-to-door. Most folks seem to think it's just another fundy sect.

  My partner, who was raised in a fundy sect, points out that JWs aren't really fundamentalists. They only take some parts of the Bible literally, and see others (Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation) as requiring figurative interpretations. What's weird is that the parts they take literally--like not celebrating birthdays because of Pharaoh's servant and John the Baptist's decapitation--are parts that no fundamentalist would take literally.

  Oh, well. It's just another small bit of weirdness that makes me unique. Though I do get tired of explaining that being an ex-JW is not quite the same thing as being a "recovering Catholic." After all, the Catholics will still speak to former members.

  Jankyn
• 

  logansrun

  From now on I'll just say, "My life has not been a straight line from birth to who I am today."

  Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune!

  B.
• 

  got my forty homey?

  Great answer!!!