Which meetings did you hate the most?

by JH 44 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Sushi Crow

  Since I considered them to all be boring and horrid, I came up with some coping mechanisms. I used to analyze how what they were saying was completely ridiculous. Bookstudies were good for daydreaming, esp if there is a couch to curl up on. Very easy to keep track of what was going on, in case of emergency. Ever since I can remember I wanted to be an actress. Since this was a big no-no, I put my performing energies into Theocratic Ministry "performances".

  For my own twisted entertainment value, I still have my "Speech Counsel" sheet. Since it is marked "Personal", I will share it :)

  Due to some kind of twist of fate, I was always talk number 2. I gave a total 7 performances in '77 and '78, with "G" marked in all boxes. If this wasn't good acting, I don't know what is :) I still love to pretend...

  Sushi Crow
• 

  Country_Woman

  1. Theocratic Ministry School

  2. Public talk

  3. Watchtower study ( long and dull )

  4. Service Meeting ( too much crap and statistics and presentations)

  5. The book study ( friendly gathering once the study was finished)

  in this order
• 

  GoingGoingGone

  I always felt sorry for the kids at the meetings. They got in trouble for not sitting still and quietly, something so against a child's nature, and some parents were absolute tyrants with these poor kids. I remember when my kids were little, they started to announce that children should be paying attention at the meetings and parents should not bring toys or even paper for the kids to draw on...... I ignored them. I remember when my son was really small, we were at a district convention, and at the end of the day, after the prayer, everyone claps........ He looked at me with a mixture of confusion and joy, and said, "Is EVERYONE happy that it's over?" I just about died laughing! GGG
• 

  Mary

  1. Service Meeting - This was the worst one of the bunch. First of all, it's just filled with boring bullshit that nobody cares about, and you're already cranky and tired sitting there listening and wondering if this night will ever end. The poor young kids are either crying, screaming or sleeping by this meeting because they should've been in bed long ago but are forced to sit still in a chair as all the adults drone on about stuff they cannot possibly comprehend.

  2. Theocratic School - I was bored to death half way through the Introduction Talk. 20 minutes of highlighting Zerubabbel's or Nebuchadnezzar's totally mind numbing adventures with people like the Shiitheads and/or the Caananites.

  3. Watchtower Study - This one varied----it depended on what the topic was. If it was an interesting subject, it wasn't too too bad, but more often than not, it was 22 paragraphs of boring nonsense. One hour just wasn't enough though, they had to go and add that stupid Review Questions box at the end, just to make sure they left no independent brain cell working in your head.

  4. Public Talk - Same as the Watchtower. If it was an interesting topic, it was passable, otherwise, I was already in La-La land after the first 10 minutes. The most horrifying thing about the Public Talk is knowing that you're only half-way done and you still have to survive the Botchtower Study afterwards.

  5. Book Study - The Bookstudy was survivable, because it was the shortest one of the lot.
• 

  feelinglost

  In order of least favorite:

  1.Service meeting was definitely my least favorite. Man, I have only been gone from them for 4 years, and I can't even remember what they used to go on and on about. Except of course when there was an announcement about someone- then everyone's ears perked up.

  2. Theocratic ministry school- no wonder it was supposed to be "teaching" people how to speak- some of them really sucked at (who knows, maybe i did too), and some of them were just so boring- even with only 5 minute long talks!

  3. Public talk- it definitely all depended on the speaker. My mom goes to a therapist who is an elder, and he was actually always really awesome at giving talks- very energized and into it and kept your attention, and then there was others in which I'd have to drink lots of coffee and pinch myself to stay awake.

  4. Book study- Usually didn't bother me, I think mostly because it was the shortest meeting. But some of the books did bore me to death sleep.

  5. Watchtower- As someone else said, if the article didn't grab my attention (although when I was being a good jdub, I would be trying to comment, so that kept my attention), I would read the rest of the magazine (cause that's the only time I would read the rest of it!)
• 

  talesin

  Ugg,

  1. Public Talk & WT Study... I was always falling asleep, the speakers were usually sooo boring, just droned on and on. Then we had to ever .... so .... slowly ... laboriously ... go thru the WT , uh uh uh ,,, torture!

  2. Book Study ~ Studying the incredible twists and turns of the 'prophecies' of Daniel ... and the guy who picked nis nose, rolled it, flicked it, then cleaned his fingernails w/ his teeth ... need I say more? The last going off, I used to watch TV in my bedroom to avoid it, just before I had to leave home.

  3. Service Meeting - repetitive droning once again, the only interesting thing being the accounts, as then I could do some math in my head. The guilt propaganda pouring from the platform during this portion was nauseating.

  4. School ~ At least I got some relief, as I usually subbed a talk. So I missed everything on the program I could, whilst 'preparing' beforehand.

  t
• 

  anewme

  We had the book study on Thursday nights at our home for 15 years. Also the Saturday FS for 15 years off and on. I had to work so hard to clean and mow lawns to get ready for the group. It was hard work. But I did it for Jehovah and for the friends. I tried to make it fun and have lots of treats afterwards. We had lots of animals who would come out and entertain and I even put on parties with skits the children had rehearsed, costumes and all. There were some very good times. The Saturday Field Service was being moved to the hall in one home after the other until I learned our family was hosting the only home Book study. Fewer and fewer were showing up at our home, prefering to go to the hall where there were more friends to work with in the service. I got tired and asked my husband to move the bookstudy to another home and also meet for weekend service at the hall like the other families were doing. He thought this was a weakness and stood firm for another year while I went under (probably a nervous breakdown of sorts).
• 

  Nosferatu

  
  Here's what I hated most in order

  1) Public Talk. Same crap, different Sunday. I didn't care if the speaker was good, I heard all this crap before. This was ALWAYS when I did my daydreaming. Very rarely I paid attention. Speakers using props made me come out of dreamland, "OOOOH! Something different... PROPS!!"

  2) Service Meeting. Not as bad as the Public Talk because things would change around every once in a while. "Hey, there are people moving onto the stage to do a presentation!" I can't believe how entertaining it was watching people walk after being droned out. Another good thing about the Service Meeting is it combined with the TMS was shorter than Sunday.

  3) Watchtower Study. Boring. Except for the occasional kid throwing up his/her hand after every question, eager to yell "Dahova" in the microphone. Good part about the WT Study is that it told you half the meeting was over. Oh, lets see how many paragraphs to go until the end! Ah shit, there's 22 this week. I like it better when there's 17. Seems to make the meeting go faster. It was always amusing when mom would pack the wrong Watchtowers.

  4) Theocratic Ministry School. People moving, the brother tapping the pencil when someone goes over the five minute mark. I always timed them on my watch. That was the highlight. Playing with my watch. It was also amusing to see others' take on what they're learning.

  5) Book Study. People's homes can hold a lot of interesting things, especially when they're held at a dyfunctional family's house. The kid who would always clear the phlegm out of his throat, the other kid always cracking his knuckles while others cringed, the mother who was always groaning because of the pain in every joint, kids sneezing from being allergic to the family dog, the family dog scratching and whining from the bedroom door, people who lived in the house who were too sick to attend, and the occasional goodies after the book study! To top it all off, the shortest meeting of them all!

  Getting back to the Watchtower Study, I always found the "Watchtower Summary" at the assemblies to be a completely boring waste of time.
• 

  mad max

  The public talk on a Sunday, for 1 whole hour the elder spoke from an outline, and did the things he was taught on the Thursday meeting. Voice up and down or just drooooning on and on, my head used to fall into my chest and I used to get very dizzy trying to keep my eyes open. But what a difference when I went to this one church . The chap spoke right from his heart and from inside of him which i call the inner Spirit. It was not rehersed at all. Nothing was set out in order but flowed. I found that all the meetings started right on time, hour for this or for that and dont forget you ONLY had 5 min to give your talk on the Thursdays DONT go overtime. I liked that ONLY BECAUSE I HAD A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TAKE ON SOME OF MY TOPICS. Shock on some of the faces. Anyway thank God we all out of it.
• 

  caty

  All of the ones i was forced to go to before i turned 15.

  I was often high at the thursday night ('theocraptic' ministry school and service meeting) so no idea what those were ever really about, besides hearing mispronounced words and bad grammar.

  The watchtower reading was the cruelest form of torture known to man. I think it should be a suggestion submitted to the FBI for ways of making people talk.

  And how does anyone ever endure an assembly?