Posts by Insomniac

24

JW Get-togethers

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

do you have any good memories of jw get-togethers?

a lot of my good memories of them have tarnished with age.

i vaguely remember them.

After I left home at the tenderized age of 15, I didn't get asked to any get-togethers. Parents didn't want me around their kids because I was "rebellious", and I was considered too young to hang out with the adults. When I moved to Maine, this one sister, who frankly was one cool chick most of the time, used to take all the young people in the cong to this little amusement park we have. Everybody around my age got to go, but since I had a job and apartment (instead of high school) I wasn't counted among the other kids. It sucked big-time, because I didn't have a car and hadn't left my small town in ages. I sat at home feeling pretty lonely that day.

Sorry for the sob story. That was one instance that stands out in my memory, but I have good ones, too. This one sister used to go out of her way to include me in activities when I was a kid, took me to all sorts of parties and stuff. (Debbie from Bastrop, if you're reading this: THANK YOU!!!!) And playing Bible charades was actually pretty fun-one of my friends got silly and acted out being a Midianite harlot or something, and vamped it up so much that I almost couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. So, yeah, in all honesty, I had some fun times.

10

London, my Son, with his Dad, day out, photos

by Celtic in

jw
friends

.

photos from the natural history and science museums.

to those that know me and sent their best wishes beforehand, thank you, yes we did have a blinder of a good day out together, was quite exceptionally brilliant, just how it was mean't to be.. kindest regards to you all.. celtic mark.

Insomniac

A couple of handsome fellas! Great pictures, Celtic.

75

How Many Reveal Themselves Totally On This Board?

by minimus in

jw
friends

some feel that you should put out a history of who you are, what your life was and is like now and express it in a very simple way so that everyone can "know" you.

we've had posters say they were elders, elder's sisters, hurt jws, etc.

it could all be a little fantasy.

Insomniac

I don't feel the need to reveal every danged thing about myself, but then I don't try to hide much, either. A few folks here know my name, but while I'm ok sharing that or my email with a handful of folks, I don't need to post it for the whole world. I guess it feels less important to me as time goes by. I am, however, re-learning how to bite my toungue and keep my stronger opinions to myself, just as I had to do when I was an uppity feminist sister. It's not easy, but I try, honest I do.

27

witness/non-witness romance- how'd yours fare? Check in!

by detective in

i'm just doing this as an easy reference point for our new board members who came here seeking advice on their witness/non-witness romantic relationships.

questions for board members: .

* have you been in this type of relationship?

Insomniac

When I met honey-bunny, I was still a witness who attended meetings, while he was completely unfamiliar with what jw's are. He was really cool about it, would offer me rides to the meetings when my car was in the shop, and went out of his way to be nice to my dub friends. He never once tried to belittle my faith or try to get me to change my ways. He would sometimes ask me questions about doctrines, such as the 144,000, the new system, etc., and they always sounded so lame to me when I tried to explain them. When I noticed how rudely my dubbie "friends" would treat him when he was with me, and compared their behavior to his non-judgemental attitude, I did not feel comfortable attending meetings with them anymore. Long story short, now we spend our Sundays working on the house together.

He still (5 1/2 years later) likes to grumble that Witness women are supposed to be submissive to their men. That's when I remind him that, if I'd played by Witness rules, I'd never have gone out with him in the first place!

35

Did the second-class status of JW women ever bother you? Does it now?

by True North in

jw
friends

if the jw organization were considered a normal business operating without the protections of being a religion, it obviously would have to make some big changes in order to avoid being sued out of existence for sex discrimination.

i wasn't raised to think that women should be relegated to second class status or that they should have less opportunities than men or be relegated to a limited set of life roles.

however, when i became a jw, i freely accepted all the sexist nonsense that came with the territory without ever being bothered by it.

Insomniac

In my experience, women were treated very differently from men. When I asked why single women were not welcome to join Bethel, I was told by an elder that women were a temptation to snare the young men. Apparently the fact that these young men were lacking in self-control was not an issue.

Face it, women can't be elders, ms's, do's, co's, members of the governing body, can't conduct meetings, can't pray without a demeaning hankie on their heads, can't work the literature counter, can't handle the mikes, can't give talks, nothing!

I never married in the "truth" because I could never agree to be in subjection to another human being. I resented it then, and I resent it now.

45

Bullied into quitting my job?

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

hey all.

lately, i've been recieving heat at work for not doing my job.

i was hired to assemble, repair, and test electronics.

Insomniac

Nosferatu, this is pretty strange. I'd think that yard maintenance would be well outside your job description. It's puzzling that he'd expect this of you. How many are in your place of business? Because, if there are 10 or 20, and he only asks this of you, then it's way out of line. If it's just you and him, then maybe not so much, but still not appropriate. Does he seem to like you otherwise? Is he happy with your work? If he seems to generally dislike you, then, yeah, sounds like he's trying to get you to quit, which is easier on him, from a legal standpoint, than firing you.

I hope this all works out for you; if it's a job you like, it would be too bad if you had to find another. Best of luck to you.

23

touched by a circuit overseer

by in a new york bethel minute in

hi im new here... this is my first new post.. first off, ever notice how packed the hall gets when jesus i meannnnnn the circuit overseer comes to visit?

why do people try so hard to impress him?

can he get our dead relatives out of purgatory?

Insomniac

Ugh, I can't stand when people touch me. There's one woman in my town who is always drunk when I see her. She is always trying to hug me and run her hands through my hair! I tried telling her nicely that it made me uncomfortable, to no avail. Then I progressed to telling her quite bluntly to not touch me, and finally to physically pushing her away from me. It's awful because she keeps trying to hang on, as I'm untangling her hand (with all it's chunky, cheap rings) from my hair with one hand, and pushing her off me with the other. Strange, too, because she's a hairdresser; I guess I thought that people who deal with customers in such an intimate fashion would have developed a bit more tact, but as I said, she drinks too much.

To their credit, though, I think the guy that handled your goatee, and the hairdresser, are probably benign. These types of people, while infuriating, do seem to be mostly socially awkward individuals who just can't see why we are uncomfortable with their actions; we puzzle them as much as they bother us. If this happens again, try taking hold of the person's wrist (gently) and pulling their hand off you, while saying in a very civil voice "please don't touch me." Then keep chatting as though nothing has happened. You may need to do this a couple of times, but it works, with all but the densest of individuals.

14

Strange Situation

by Descender in

hey all, so over the past three months i've been going to the highest mountain to the depths of hell trying to win my wife back against the better judgement of everyone that knows anything about my situation.

anyway, the other night i went to the strip club where she works as a cocktail waitress and while i was there she introduced me to a stripper that used to be a jw.

she sat down with me and talked about jw lies and who we knew from old congregations and such.

Insomniac

Descender-

1. You are still married. Have a little respect for what you once shared with your wife, and get a divorce before you try to get laid.

2. You still care for your wife. It's not fair to you, her, or this other woman, to try to start a new relationship before the last one is finished, I mean well and truly finished.

3. This young lady might be just wonderful, but I must warn you: I used to date a male stripper, and I had to dump him because he'd slept with half the women I worked with. When I mention this to people, those who have also dated strippers have reported the same thing. Apparently, they have an apparently deserved rep for being promiscuous.

My advice is, get that divorce, take time to heal, then find yourself someone wonderful. In that order.

39

Help me out? a request for critique on my writing

by Sirona in

jw
friends

i hope you don't mind me asking, but i know lots of people here so i thought i'd post to ask for your opinions on my most recent short story.

i've posted it here on a short story writing website http://www.eastoftheweb.com/uncut/node/view/2370 honestly i'm looking for constructive critisism - its ok to be harsh.. the story is a bit humourous and is less than 1100 words, so it's a quick read.

if you are really kind, you could comment over on that site too.. i've always wanted to write more and ultimately get something published, and this is a way for me to try to improve and learn.

Insomniac

Sirona- I liked it, very much. It was a good story, packed into so few words; proof that we don't need to drag on for 5,000 pages (like Stephen King) in order to tell a tale well.

I wondered about the girl. Why did he care, what was different about her? And, like one of the posters on that site, I thought a brief description of her (and the other's) reactions to the Ouija's statement would have worked nicely.

Good grammar, good spelling, good sentence structure....Sorry, I work as an English and writing tutor, and can't help noticing those things. I'd enjoy reading more of your work, especially a longer piece that would allow you more room to develop the plot. This is definitely a piece you can be proud of, and a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing this with us!

5

Night Life as a Witness?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

did you go out in bars when you were a witness?

care to share a few stories....

Insomniac

About 6 years ago, I spent a very strange summer, going to a lot of bars with my friends from work. This had never been my habit before, but I sure made up for lost time that year (1998). We went to little hole-in-the-wall dive bars, and dance clubs, sports bars, and even a gay bar where one of my buddies worked part-time. We saw a really great drag show there and none of the guys hit on me! I even worked in one of these places for a few months.

It felt so comfortable (at first) to be in bars, because I KNEW I would not run into any Witnesses, I could just be myself for a few hours. Not that I was bad; I danced with some cute guys, but never drank anything but soda, and at the end of the evening I was the one who gave all my friends and anyone else in need a ride home.

Before long, I started noticing the Witnesses in the crowd. Once in a while, I'd see one, usually a brother. When they would see me, they would always duck their heads, and we would each pretend not to have noticed the other. Then we would pretend it didn't happen when we saw each other at the meeting the next morning. What a stupid, fearful way to live my life! Now, I go over and give them a big hello, like normal folks do. It feels a lot better being honest about what is, really, a little pleasant diversion.