ok, door to door question.......

by freedom96 14 Replies latest social entertainment

• 

  freedom96

  I am always teasing my wife about having a "country club" upbringing as a witness.

  In the hall I grew up in, and those I attended for a few years after turning 18, were pretty hard core. I tease her about how easy she had it. Which, in my mind was clearly the case, but that is another story.

  This case involves going out in service.

  In my halls, you went out almost regardless of weather. This was central California, and though we didn't fight snow, there were some mornings that were quite cold and / or raining. Didn't matter, you better go out in service. Holiday's, of course, how could you not go out in service when you had a day off from work, and you could catch a lot of people at home.

  Some people yes, would go for a coffee break at a donut shop, but only a few. Usually, you worked a solid two hours, then you were free to go home, unless you had some not-at-homes to go do.

  Now, we had a territory that was divided from a map of the city. Each one was the side of an index card, and carefully had the areas where the houses, streets, and blocks were laid out. A typical morning would consist of 4 in a car, maybe two car groups. One car would take a block. Two ways to do it. In groups of two, and maybe a small child, you could do every other house, and if you stayed at one house for a while, the other couple would do every house until you caught up. OR, one would go one way, and the other group would go in the opposite direction until you met up somewhere in the middle.

  So, my experience was that of above. I put in serious door to door time. One of the reasons I get pissed off when I see same dumb ass witnesses sitting behind a table at the airport, and counting that as time. Come on! That isn't real time!

  Now, comes the conversation I had with my wife. She is from New England. They didn't have nearly as many city "blocks" as I had, but there were their fair share of streets lined with houses. But get this: She says a normal day out in service, even in good weather, consisted of this: One car group. Stop at the curb, and two witnesses would get out. You would do one or two houses, then come back to the car. The car group would then drive two houses further, and then the other two would get out and do a house or two. Imagine if it was a van! Then you hardly would have to go out.

  She says that this is how it was done out there. I could hardly believe my ears!! What the hell did she have to complain about?? Talk about a "country club" witness!!

  Did you guys go out like I did, or her, or how was it where you are from?
• 

  AlmostAtheist

  I've done both types, yours and your wife's. They both had their up's and down's depending on who you were out with. A fun group was more fun to stay in the car with. A dud group and you were like, "Can't we just get out and walk? Please?!"

  I remember one day in a small town I was pioneering alone. An older couple invited me to sit on their porch and have some lemonade. I told them about moving here to serve in the preaching work, for which they commended me. I offered them some literature, which I believe they accepted, though I don't remember now. What a pleasant time that was, most of it was just shooting the breeze with a nice "worldly" couple. And like a good dub, I walked away thinking, "What great JW's they would make!" And they were probably thinking, "What a nice young man, it's shame he's caught up in all that. He'd make a good human."

  Turns out we were both wrong! :-)

  Dave
• 

  Effervescent

  I'd have to say that my experience was a mixture between you and your wifes. I grew up in small towns in Oregon where the majority of the territory was rural. My Dad owned a large Dodge van that sat 8 people. How we worked the territory depended on where it was. If it was in town we would offload the entire van and all go in different directions in pairs of two. We would meet back after a certain time, or after a certain distance, probably a half mile to a mile. More often than not, though, we worked very rural territory. This I loved because I hardly ever spoke to anyone. We would have to drive between driveways and do one house at a time. I think my Dad would say that you had to keep getting out until the householder was home. You could go for hours and mabey talk to one person.

  I have to say that in certain places I lived in Oregon, rural field service could be QUITE interesting. On more than one occasion we were met with rifles or had dogs set loose on us. Knowing the area, it was clear to me these people were growing... and I dont mean green beans and corn.
• 

  rwagoner

  Freedom,

  We did it exactly the way your wife mention. We felt it was the best way and far superior to the way they did things in the whoop de do country club congos in "Cailifornia". LOL *just kidding*

  Oh...and to answer your question of where I am from...I used to attend your wifes old congo LOL
• 

  BluesBrother

  My experience was a lot more like yours.. Regular streets of small houses and you rang or knocked them all in turn. Hot or cpld, Dry or wet .

  In the large town there were lots of flats where the doors were right next to each other, no time for walking and admiring the gardens.. Like you I used to get needled at those who could get in "easy time" , studying with their kids, accompanying on somebody else's study etc. Some of us did it the hard way
• 

  TheEdge

  freedom - check this out - it's sooooooooooo funny

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/35780/1.ashx
• 

  Aude_Sapere

  My experience for 2 decades was like yours, with one exception.

  Time didn't start counting until it was YOUR door.

  ARRGGGHHH!! So much wasted time...

  -Aude.
• 

  Mamacat

  ...
• 

  Mamacat

  We lived in the suburbs, and would almost always do townhouses or closely grouped houses for service territory. Those that had more territories with regular roads where the houses were spaced and had driveways must have had to do those on their own...they were never done during regular service. I don't remember ever doing any territory like that, and there are definitely those types of houses there too.
  
  We would be split up in groups of two and start at opposite ends of a street and work until we met each other in the middle. My mom always started counting time from when we left the hall until we got back there. We had a two door car, so we always rode with others. Usually, we would do two sides of a street and then head to McDonalds for a drink. It was frowned upon if you ate something...drinks only. Then, those with return visits would map those out, and we would do a few on the drive back to the hall.
  
  I remember going in the snow and cold many times, especially on days school was cancelled because of the weather. My mom had started "street witnessing" with another sister in the city, and I went once. The snow plows were throwing snow up on the sidewalk, which of course weren't shoveled. It was miserable.
• 

  Honesty

  I try to forget the torture. Since becoming a Christian my thought process has improved considerably.

  For instance:

  Jesus knows how much time I put in so that saves me a lot of time and over the course of my life a few trees.

  I don't have to carry a bible or heavy bag loaded with the Witch Tower and other twisted scripture study aids.

  It's a real joy and privilege to talk with people about Jesus and his Grace without having to wear myself out walking from door-to-door and house-to-house fighting off ill tempered dogs and homeowners.

  Return visits don't hide from me when I see them at the store.

  I don't have to stand in line to get Field Service magazines.

  However, I do miss hearing all the dirty laundry about other brothers and sisters and how their elder husbands should have got an education so they could have the 'nice things in life' from all the pioneer sisters.