Torture at DC (page 2)

LongHairGal

Dragonlady:

Regarding conventions without a/c: After the torture endured at Yankee Stadium years ago, I vowed never to attend another convention that was not in an air conditioned place. Finding a bathroom was just part of the problem.

It was unendurable torture and you got next to nothing out of it. All your efforts went into keeping cool and hydrated! Never mind taking notes and paying attention.

mrs rocky2

I think the worst was on the last day of convention. We often had to travel 6 hours from the convention city to our home. We would wait until the final song and prayer and head to the restrooms with our little girls only to find that the restrooms had been closed by the cleaning department and could not be used. We circled the entire stadium and found no restrooms. Mind you, this was not just a one-time occurrence. This happened year after year. The last convention we attended, we left before the final song and prayer so that we could get the family road ready for the trip home. BTW, Rocky was an attendant and I volunteered in Accounting - there were no special restroom privileges afforded to us. If I was on duty in the Accounting Dept., I could use the restroom there, but my family was not allowed in that special area. We tried to have a good attitude and remind ourselves that the brothers in Zimbabwe were probably meeting in the wilderness, lucky to have an apple box to sit upon!

zack

The guilt trip over some in lands who do not even have AC or a dry roof just doesn't resonate with me anymore. The lowest standard, the lowest common denominator is NEVER the measure of love. One should never stoop to the lowest standard but try to elevate others and ourselves to the highest standard-- whether the standard be a moral one or a matrial one. Maybe if the org. spent as much money on providing transportation and decent meeting places as they do on literature we wouldn't hear of any more stories of someone crossing a crocodile infested river to get to a meeting. Why not build them a bridge OVER the river? Why not get them on a ferry? I guess they like these stories so they can be used to shame the rest of us who by no design of our own were born in a more prosperous land.

And yes, these little "areas" of privilege have always existed. I don't know if they think the rest of us are cattle-- they certainly treat us more like mushrooms.

Z

mrsjones5

Come to think of it my parents never take my mentally and physically handicapped brother to the district or the circut conventions anymore. hm

Josie

RichieRich

Those seats are the worse.

They are narrow (I have a bg ass) and the armrests squeeze you.

Then they put the seats horribly close together, and as I'm 6'4", I often have those little cup holders digging in my legs...

It sure is torture.

At my DC, there was only 1 men's room, so if you had to pee, you had to walk half a mile to do it!

willyloman

BTW, Rocky was an attendant and I volunteered in Accounting - there were no special restroom privileges afforded to us. If I was on duty in the Accounting Dept., I could use the restroom there, but my family was not allowed in that special area.

Not so in the Most Holy, where I spent my happiest dub years. In our upstairs "skybox" there was gourmet coffee and snacks and a couple of empty restrooms. Since no one could get upstairs to "Adminstration" without a specific name badge, the facilities were in effect "reserved" for exclusive use of us worthies. The security attendants at the elevator knew my family and gave them free access whenever they needed it. To her credit, my wife felt guilty and (except for an occasional emergency), stood in line at the public facilities with our little kids.

There were often wives (no kids) upstairs whose husbands were assigned to Administration. They occupied their own table and demonstrated piety by looking up scriptures and taking notes, but it was hard to concentrate and easy to be distracted by the comings and goings of "heavies" and their wives, all of whom had to be chatted up upon arrival. I've been in huge stadiums where adminstration took over the luxury sky boxes. The bar wasn't open. But the refrigerator was full of soft drinks and designer water and there was always a coffee pot on. The chairs were comfortable, the air conditioning was operating at peak performance inside these isolated cocoons, and there were private restrooms. About half the people in the room were spouses.

I vividly remember one year when due to circumstances we attended a convention we weren't assigned to. I sat in the audience in a stuffy auditorium with cramped seats and looked longingly up at the window on the upper level where I could see people standing, talking, drinking coffee and gaily laughing. It was in that moment I first realized what a hypocrite I'd become.

upside/down

Now now... all you need to do is wait on J and wear depends.

I'm sure that's what J would want.

Are you showing a "complaining spirit"? Do you reject the provision of J?

Shame on you...

u/d (of the held it so long I could taste it class)

zack

Just wanted to add, in days gone by there were more women than men and women with children and no husbands. That demographic has shifted. You see many couple s with no kids and many couples with multiple kids--- not just young couples, but couples in their thirties with a toddler or two in tow. Yes, women need more time in the restroom. Most venues were not designed with them in my mind since they do not make up the bulk of the sports dollar. These arenas are not designed for a 9 hour event where people eat at least two meals and are in attendance at the time of day most human beings need facilities. It is poor planning and lack of caring.

Elsewhere

A question for the ladies:

Do you find that there are long lines at large non-JW gatherings? You know, conventions, ball games, concerts, etc... basically any kind of large venue.

outoftheorg

Ah yes, The convention from hell. I remember it well.

I had just taken a much better job in another state. This was in 1978 and I was still upset with the 1975 foolishness.

I was an elder and had the letter of recomendation to deliver to the new congregation.

We were in the process of moving and still had kids at home. My now ex wife insisted we go to the assembly. It was in Canada and we were in Wyoming. I decided to take the camper and try to make it into a sort of vacation. That is why we went to Canada.

Got to the jw assigned campgrounds and it was awful. Then it started to rain and it was also muddy and the kids were grumpy.

Went to the first day of the assembly and it was in a terrible situation. Poor parking, over crowded, and dark inside. The jw's had part of the building and some rock band had the other.

The separating wall consisted of a very thick curtain that could be brought out by electric controls.

This wall would dampen most of the noise, except for that damned drum.

After about an hour or so, I leaned over to my wife and said " tell the kids to pick up their stuff and we are getting out of here and going home.

I received no argument against leaving and we packed up and went camping.

After arriving at our new home I also told the local elders that I would not accept the position of elder in this new congregation and started my slow fade.

Outoftheorg

PS there was an internal struggle in this new congregation and I was being solicited as the elder that would break the draw that existed. 3 elders on one side and 3 on the other.

One elder was waiting for me when we got home. I told him that I would no longer be an elder and it upset him so badly that he sold his house and moved out of the area.

So the issue they fought over must have been very important, right?

Yes it was, an elder had taken some useless old theater seats to the dump without the permission of the other group of 3 and for some reason this issue took precedent over anything the elder body should have been involved in, like taking care of the flock.

My fade accelerated.

Outoftheorg

Torture at DC

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