<div>First off Nosferatu, let me apologize for being one of those "super-spiritual" baptized kids who probably wouldn't have invited you to very much... since you were unbaptized, a sporadic meeting attender... and therefore basically bad association.
<br></br><br></br>That by the way... is why no one would invite you anywhere.
<br></br><br></br>That said... it's not like I had any friends anyway. I'm a geeky kind of guy... but Witnesses aren't really allowed to be into things like comic books or movies. In the world I'd have probably joined a Dungeons and Dragons club or something... and at least had some friends. There's nothing like that in the JWs. In the JWs, only really outgoing people make friends. If that isn't you, you sit at home and hope one of outgoing people will invite you to do something. In the world, if you're shy and bookish, then you just hang out with other shy, bookish people. Not so at the hall. At the hall I was just the geeky elder's kid who the other kids would take with them sometimes out of pity, or because they felt like they had to because I was "good association".
<br></br><br></br>I made one real friend when I was 15... we're still friends. He's my only friend. All the rest of the people I used to hang around with dropped me as soon as they could find richer, cooler, and better looking people at other halls.
<br></br><br></br>Which left me alone, begging for attention.
<br></br><br></br>Pathetic.
That's not to say there weren't good times. When I did hang out with my fake friends, we'd have fun. In particular I remember one camping trip when I was 15 with a bunch of other Witness kids. Held hands with a girl for the first time then... in secret around a campfire. Later I discovered she was only doing it because she just wanted the experience... she'd never really consider having anything to do with me.
And there was fun in service... now and then I and a few of the other teenage guys around 16 - 17 would managed to work it so we'd all go out in Service together... no adults. Invariably we'd do about 15 minutes of service and then gleefully sneak off to the Arcade. Maybe we'd drop some tracts on the floor while in there. Ha!
And then when one of us at age 18 became a pioneer, we used to sneak back to the hall when no one was there and use our Pioneer friends key to go in to the empty KH and just hang out. STupid... giving a key like that to an 18 year old.
But mostly, it was crap. I had association... only when the more outgoing people at the hall needed a seat fillr, or couldn't find someone better to do something with, or felt bad for me. I was lucky in that I lived in a small town, so there weren't a lot of other people around in our age group for them to choose from.
<br></br><br></br>So look at it this way, though you were kind of ignored by the other kids at your hall, you're probably better off. They wouldn't have been real friends anyway. </div>
Memories of your JW Youth
by Nosferatu 22 Replies latest jw experiences
-
CinemaBlend
-
jeeves
wow. this is incredible to read.
we did have crazy upbringings, didn't we?? i'm really relating to so many posts.... guilt from birthday parties, repressed sexuality....
my parents were by no means "orthodox" witnesses, but they sure were strict. my brothers weren't allowed to dance with girls until they were 18! once at a wedding my oldest brother was slow dancing with a girl his age and mom went out and dragged him off the dancefloor....
i think i could have been happier in high school if i could have hung out with the kids that i got along with, not just witnesses.
but when it comes down to it, i'm glad with the me that i am now. i have a few things to figure out, and a few things to let go... but who knows who or where i'd be if not for that crazy upbringing! deal with what you have and look forward to your future as a non-jw!
-
Nellie
I guess I was a rule follower. Since my mother wasn't a witness, I wasn't pressured into service and meeting attendance - I went when I wanted to. I wasn't really into service - but I went to all the meetings.
As for birthdays, halloween, etc. - I knew they were wrong, so I didn't participate. I was always afraid of displeasing God by joining in - so even though I could have, I didn't.
I had friends in the congregation and we hung out and had fun. I started dating my husband when I was 14 - he was 18. My mother (remember, not a witness) fell in love with him immediately and trusted us not to do anything wrong since we were witnesses! And of course, we were perfectly obedient. For two years. Then it became interesting .... (that's for another thread!)
Anyway, I guess the difference is whether you are choosing your way of life or if you are being forced into it! I have no one to blame for the years I spend following the GB's direction, but me. Now, I choose not to!