Witnesses sit next to me at the theater last night

by seattleniceguy 40 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  EvilForce

  GBL has his torso pic avatar back up WHOOO HOOO!!!!
  
  I wouldn't shun you :)
• 

  Netty

  Well what kind of witnesses could they possibly be, I mean isn't Mr. & Mrs. smith RATED R??? But yea, I know what you mean about trying at least to break the ice so you dont feel akward. Hey, it's their loss, not yours.
• 

  EvilForce

  I think it's pg-13....
  
  Still I think either 1/2 way thru the movie I would have annonunced just loud enough to hear that your "Christian upbringing couldn't allow you to watch this violence, sex, language, whatever and walked out.
  
  Or as you were passing them on the way out say just loud enough to your wife.... Man, I thought real Chritians would have walked out on that movie.
  
  EIther way you could have ruined the movie / enjoyment for them.
• 

  freedom96

  I have no doubt it was much worse for them than it was for you.

  Too bad they just don't know how to react.

  As mentioned earlier, I agree that the thing to do is at the exact moment of recognizing each other, you go and say hi. Before there is time for anything else.
• 

  seattleniceguy

  I agree that the thing to do is at the exact moment of recognizing each other, you go and say hi.

  I wish I had, but as I was approaching her, I was thinking about something else, and it wasn't until just before I passed her that I really and truly recognized that it was in fact her. Kind of a strange feeling.

  I have no doubt it was much worse for them than it was for you.

  Perhaps. I imagine they'll be talking about it a bit. Then again, look at me talking about it! :-)

  Actually, one of the funny aspects of the whole thing is that before the movie, my g/f and I had had a couple drinks with some friends in the bar at an upscale hotel, so we were dressed pretty nicely. I had on some nice slacks and a button-up shirt, with some decent shoes on, and my girlfriend had a dress on. So they certainly won't be able to play the "look how grungy you get when you leave the troof" card. :-)

  SNG
• 

  reagan_oconnor

  "Get their borg on" made me LOL...

  I have never run into any JWs that I know (I live an hour away from where I grew up), but I can pick them up on my J-dar at Panera's on Saturday mornings. Just knowing who they are sometimes gets me riled and I have to calm myself down in order to enjoy my coffee.

  I was wearing an old work t-shirt that said "Unorthodox Pagan" one morning and got some shocked looks -- which made it worthwhile.
• 

  jgnat

  This needs to be put in an advice column for exiting JW's.

  you really have to flash a smile and extend an arm and make them respond quick; it's hard to be non-human when you've already been human, but if they have a minute to avoid eye contact, they can definitley get their borg on.

  Different reasons, but I have experienced shunning as well. The JW's don't have all the jerks in the world. The smile is really important. It signals chemical changes in your body that HELP you be happy and confident. Big, wide, confident smiles are a definite antidote to antisocial behavior. I also give direct eye contact.
• 

  Markfromcali

  It's experiences like this that make me think of the Williams character in Enter the Dragon saying: "Man, you come right out of a comic book!"

  They're children aren't they? Terribly naive, after you've been out a while and have actually grown up you see that for what it is. It's like one of those really lame sitcoms, but hey that's their reality, such as it is..
• 

  Terry

  When I moved back to Texas from California; many in Texas who knew me (from years before at the Kingdom Hall) didn't know I was disfellowshipped.

  One such case was a young lady who had been a very very dear friend. When she saw me she ran up and gave me a big hug and a kiss. Twenty minutes later (somebody told her) I was dead as roadkill to her.

  I continued to say "hi" to her always and smile a big friendly smile which she pretended not to see or acknowledge.

  Afterward it always made me sick to my stomach.

  It is SO GOD DAMNED RUDE!!!

  To not even acknowledge that you exist is the equivalent of KILLING YOU.

  Now it just makes me so angry I can give them a huge earful.

  "Ah, I see you've been taught to pretend I don't exist! How lovely! Well, guess what? I DO EXIST!! I am a human being just like you are. (Big smile). Isn't it strange that you think I'm invisible and yet you CAN see me? (Laugh) I never stopped being your friend; I don't sell friends out like that. It is YOU who has been taught that friendship has no value. Here is a big friendly hint for you: Don't let people mess with your mind like that and steal your friends from you and tell you who you can and can't talk to. THINK FOR YOURSELF! I do. Why? Because, I CAN!! That is why I'm talking to you even though you aren't given permission to talk to me. Bye now, nice chatting to you."

  T.
• 

  chrissy

  What a story, SNG.

  It was a strange sensation, because at first I had the Witness reaction of shock and nervousness on seeing a disfellowshipped person.

  Does that mean meg is df’d and still giving you the shun treatment? Or that was maybe just your reaction…

  I often wonder what it would be like to be shunned by my old friends. Living so far away it is not likely to happen… but I imagine if I visit home and I run into them at a theater or something and they try to ignore me… I fear I would freak. Like, I would want to walk right up to them and just ask... WTF?.. followed by a sudden outburst of laughter and a vocal noting of how screwed up they are.

  Sounds like you handled it a lot better.