JW Market Place

Corvin

The centerpiece of San Diego's revitalized downtown is Horton Plaza, an 11.5-acre multi-level shopping and entertainment complex, with shops, restaurants, three major department stores, a 14-screen cinema and a performing arts theatre. It now eclipses the once popular Balboa Theatre where I saw my first Bruce Lee movie, Enter The Dragon along with my first Jackie Chan movie, The Big Brawl.

Recently, two Jehovah?s Witnesses, dressed neatly in cheap suits and ties sat motionless in folding chairs behind a vinyl card table directly in the flow of pedestrian shoppers, arms folded, smug smiles on their pasty faces. Placed neatly on the table before them were various publications of the WTBT, including videos and Kingdom Melody cassette tapes.

Since when do Jehovah?s Witnesses sell their publications at the shopping mall?

Later that month, I was at another shopping mall where two sisters, whom I?ve known since childhood, were seated behind the same kind of table with publications displayed. How bizarre. Has anyone else seen this?

Corvin

ohiocowboy

My, My! What an easy way of counting time! If only I had thought of this when I was pioneering, may have actually made it enjoyable, and could have shopped for a new bookbag at the same time!

Maybe Theocrap will take the initiative and try this, rather than counting his/her time posting on this site!!!

xjw_b12

Well they are advertising on TV now, so nothing would surprise me.

Besides, who is at home these days? Pedalling at the mall or WalsMart, seems like a good way to get in people's faces. Not that it works any better, than any other method they employ.

Maybe if they opened up a guitar case, and started singing a few tunes, they'd get a bit more attention..... or at least a few more contributions, to assist with their life saving work.

Room 215

This is the ``flea market" approach to spreading the ``Good News of the Kingdom." I've seen it in practice in New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal and other such public venues. They're usually manned by someone who sits there impassively, usually reading and marking his WT publications for comment at the meetings, or yawning and fighting back the temptation to nod off. From what I've seen, they never attempt to accost passersby with their ``join us or die" version of the gospel.

Looks like a cheap cop-out way to accumulate pioneer hours ``while you sleep" (often literally!).

It's really amusing to see that among the spiritual goodies on offer are tapes of ``Kingdom Melodies(!)" Now THERE'S are real soul-saver!

r51785

Corvin, I've seen them before also at North County Fair and University Towne Center. Maybe it's just a San Diego thing!

Nosferatu

That's when you approach the table, look kinda interested, accept a couple of magazines, don't give a donation, and throw them in a nearby trash can where the JWs can see.

willyloman

In southern California, they set up tables at malls, grocery stores, even college campuses. Most are pretty uninspiring, but I saw one where the dubs had created posters from WTS magazine illustrations they had enlarged. They had set their own headlines and "bullet points" on a computer and pasted them onto these posters, which were then finished at Kinkos. Looked very, very professional and they were interesting ("Was there a worldwide flood?" was one headline).

But what was really interesting was, these posters were strictly generic. They did not include the name Jehovah nor JW's nor Watchtower, or any other telltale buzz words. They could have been Mormons, born-agains, even Hare Krishnas for all anyone knew. The only giveaway was the assortment of WTS literature neatly arranged on the table top. I suspect they started some conversations. What was really weird to me was they were on a college campus surrounded by young people aged 18-24 from many different ethnic backgrounds, and the publishers behind the table were in their 60s or 70s, all wearing suits and matronly dresses, and were lily white.

It's not clear how they expected to relate to their "audience," but of course that's not what it's really about; it's about easy time.

flower

Yes I've heard this posted about before and I LOVE it. To me its a sign that they are desperate to get people in since we are leaving by the thousands.

Whatever happened to 'from house to house, from door to door"? lol. I dont remember the bible ever mentioning setting up shop next to the 'build a bear' stand at the mall.

Its freakin hilarious to me..never thought I would see the day. I would love to hear how some witness explains that.

cyber-sista

Yes, I have seen this in a mall--also at a university. It does seem rather a tacky way to "sell" religion...

Joker10

No, not with tables. I've seen them in Shopping malls.

JW Market Place

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