What did they all do on "worldly holidays" when you were home alone?

LongHairGal

I always hated being alone on Thanksgiving or Christmas. What bothered me was that if it were known you accepted an invitation by relatives it was frowned upon.

But what got to me was this: is God more pleased that I am home looking at four walls alone rather than being over somebody's house??

What also got me was the fact that all the JWs "disappeared" on these days and they weren't all out in service. Nobody ever gave a damn about the single ones.

blondie

I've heard of JWs that got together with other JWs on that day, dinner at someone's one, a group going ice skating, skiing, snowmobiling. So you can eat turkey on Thanksgiving with other JWs but not your non-JW family. Huh?

Blondie

iiz2cool

In my hall a lot of people would get out of town if there was a long weekend or other holiday. If you belonged to a clique you might get invited to go with them. People like me usually sat on our asses at home. But very few would go in service on those days.

Walter

LongHairGal

This is just one of the things that made me hate their guts.

They didn't care if you drew your next breath; they didn't care if you lived in the desert like John the Baptist and ate wild locusts and honey; BUT just let there be a rumor that you had a boyfriend or whatever and then you got a phone call.

The conclusion is that all they cared about was that you were following their goddamn rules.

DanTheMan

The conclusion is that all they cared about was that you were following their goddamn rules.

I was such a jerk when I became a JW, here I was living at my mom's house, was hanging around while she cooked the turkey, etc., then at mealtime I'd run off to a JW family's house (I was still a newbie so I got such invitations) and eat turkey and stuffing with a clear conscience because nobody was saying "Happy Thanksgiving".

Mulan

When I was a child, our family still got together on Thanksgiving at my grandparent's house. We always had a big turkey dinner with all the traditional things. All of us were JW's.

Christmas was pretty much the same thing, with no presents.............always at my grandparent's house.

Fourth of July we were usually all camping together (we had a large extended family that enjoyed being together) and grandpa always had sparklers for us and we would go out by the canal after dark and watch the fireworks the park set off.

Easter was replaced by the Memorial................new clothes, ham dinner at grandma's.

I don't remember other holidays. I guess I didn't really miss much did I? That was the 50's.

iiz2cool

BUT just let there be a rumor that you had a boyfriend or whatever and then you got a phone call.

I got phone calls many times. Every time someone was moving I got a call. Every time someone had computer problems I got a call. They always knew who I was when there was a gift or money to contribute, or some physical labor to be done. There was plenty of upbuilding association - upbuilding for everyone but me.

They didn't care if you drew your next breath;

Exactly!

Walter

LongHairGal

Walter:

It is an evil of human nature to take advantage or exploit something or someone good. I have seen this in the "truth" and in the "world". They did this to Jesus. Remember the ten lepers? Only one came back to thank him.

love2Bworldly

I remember one Thanksgiving night being at my friends' house for dinner before their Bookstudy. My friend's mom cooked a turkey dinner and played "Winter Wonderland" on the piano. I remember thinking to myself--and I could be with my worldly relatives right now doing the same thing.

iiz2cool

I have seen this in the "truth" and in the "world".

Yes, I've seen it everywhere too. But it seems to happen more among the JWs, at least in my experience. I ran with a pretty rough crowd before I was a JW, but even the worst of them seemed to have a better sense of what was decent than most JWs I knew. If I were hungry I know damn well that the most hardened ex-con would feed me before a JW elder would. Been there.

Walter

What did they all do on "worldly holidays" when you were home alone?

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