Probably the first thing I raised my eyebrows at finding out was that Special Pioneers recieved (at least at that time) money from the society to help them out with thier pioneering. Maybe it wasn't a big deal, but I was never comfortable with that. When we were told to stop asking for money for the literature and instead ask for donations---that was a red flag for me. I knew the organization was trying to be pre-emptive with possible legal matters. When the required hours per year was reduced for pioneers. This happened when I was out of the org, but I still raised my eyebrows. Very interesting for more that a few reasons. Oh, and when I was stricly ordered to stop writing letters to folks in order to maybe count one extra hour a month. I pointed out to the elder in the Org Book where it gave the example of doing so, but he would not hear it. He refused my reference and told me never to do it again. He would not hear me anymore. That was what precipitated my leaving the pioneer service.
Posts by c5
-
28While You Were A JW, What Things Struck You To Raise Your Eyebrows?
by minimus ini'll never forget the time the circuit and district overseers told the elders that from now on the elders would be solely responsible for all judicial matters and that if anyone was going to get sued, it was not going to be the society.
at that point, the 2 overseers laughed outloud.
i knew we were going to get screwed for sure because the watchtower society was already setting us up.
-
-
-
8
Ozzie's Weekend Poll #106
by ozziepost inso how are things for you this weekend?
getting some rest from a busy week i hope.
that's how it's been for mrs ozzie and i. we managed to combine a week in the tropical north having a short break along with some business (investing in some hotels).
-
-
c5
Hello!
#4 fit me the best.
If we caused a commotion, we were sure to get grilled as to why we were late, and we did not want to go through that after the meeting.
If one was lucky though, they would come in late at the same time as a big family did, because all the kids finding seats would be very distracting to the brothers, so it gave you time to find a seat unnoticed!
I always secretly liked coming in late, cause then you missed some of the boring material presented!
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
Thanks Ozziepost,
That was a good thread!
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
You all have good replies!
Sunspot,
yes, when it boils down to it, you summed it up well!
I too felt that jehovah was watching me at all times, even when i filled out my time slip.
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
Wannaexit,
You name is appropriate then with your actions! It is nice you can find things that keep you laughing while having to be in the jw.
DaCheech,
I like your 40% of time spent in "service", lol! Do you do the 10 percent just so that the congregation at least thinks you legitimately go in service?
-
28
If you had to change one thing you did while being a JW, what would it be?
by MelbaToast in.
i have seen so many stories here that invoke guilt and shame on innocents, what one important momyumental thing would you have changed if you had it to do over?.
mine would be not getting baptized.
-
-
c5
Hi!
If I could go back and change things, I dont think I would . Because of the choices I made as a JW, it eventually led to where I am at now, freedom from them!
But, if for fun I could go back and change something, I would have stood my ground and not attended the circuit assembly (winter/spring 1991). Because I attended the that assembly in 1991, I lost my job.
The story is this: I worked at a local grocery store where a bunch of other jw's also worked. Since they all asked off the assembly ahead of me, I was not able to get an "ok" to take that Saturday off (incidently the busiest day of the week for the store). My boss told me I had to find a replacement if I was to go. So I asked everyone and thier mother if they would fill in for me. No one could since all the other jw's were obviously going where I was, and the "worldly" people who were lucky to have that Saturday off did not want to work it. I finally convinced an older lady to fill in for me, and even at that, she could only fill half my shift. I explained this to my boss, and he reluctantly gave me permission to make the switch. This was 2 weeks before the assembly.
The day before the assembly, the lady calls me and tells me that she forgot she had a funeral to go to, and that she was sorry, but she could not fill in for me. I was mortified! I did not know what to do. My jw driven dogmatic conscience told me that under no circumstances could I miss a meeting or assembly. So, Saturday came and I went to the assembly.
I came back to work on Wednesday (my next scheduled day) and my boss was furious! I explained that I could not miss my religious convention, but he was still very mad. He told me that because I did not show up, all the workers including him had to work extra that day and I had put them in a huge bind. I believe he was not exaggerating, we were understaffed as it was. All I could do was say I was sorry. He then told me that he wanted to fire me. Before he told me I was fired (I knew it was coming), I said I quit. So, I did lose my job.
At the time I believed it was persecution, but as I look back now, it is apparent that I was very immature in assuming that I could just leave everyone at work in a hole while I went to the assembly. I can't remember if there was any law at the time saying one could not be fired for religious stuff, but to my boss it did not matter. I was too naive to know what to do anyway.
The kicker was, I found out that my "replacement" lied to me, and that there was no funeral she went to that day. She just found an excuse to back out of working for me, leaving me in a bind.
I would have made different choices in that situation if I could change anything. I also would have started to stand up for myself more back then as well.
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
Confucious,
Toward the end of my pioneering days, the majority of my time was "laundrymat-to-landrymat". I always hated service, but it got to a point where I could only bear quickly sneaking in the laundry mat and leaving the mags, making a mad dash back to the car, then slowly driving to the next laundrymat in a town far far away!
Glenmore,
Yes, if I recall, that was well above the national average back then! You should have been proud, lol!
I was talking to my X, and he told me that he would count 10 hours on his time when he never even went out at all that month! I wish I had not been such a "good jw" in my heyday. Seems lots of people got away with lying on thier time!
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
Shame on you Qwerty! Just kidding.
I have aquired a few new hobbies since leaving the JW's RR, but I think they are still are pretty boring for most!
Yooooooo hooooo, Noapoligies,,,where are you???????????? Did you every cheat on your time?
-
22
Service Time Records and Recording
by c5 indoes anyone still have thier old service time slips?
i still have all of mine dating back to when i first started counting my time!
i always kept a copy for myself besides the one i turned in.
-
-
c5
Hello!!
Does anyone still have thier old service time slips? I still have all of mine dating back to when I first started counting my time! I always kept a copy for myself besides the one I turned in.
It is kinda fun to go back and see what I did back then. I even recognize the different writing styles I experemented with.
Along these lines, were any of you meticulous about keeping track of service time? I knew some people who kept track of thier time down to the minute! The older I got, the more likely I rounded up in my time, but only in 15 minutes increments.
Did you know of anyone who fudged thier time in order to keep up with the national average? I admit to doing so a couple of times. I promptly made up that time and did not count it the next month.
Curious to hear your service time tales!
-
60
What Was The Stupidest Rule In Your Hall?
by minimus in....or even, "what's the stupidest organizational rule that you know of"?
-
-
c5
Hello.
We had the "white shirt only" rule in our hall wayyy back in the 70's and probably before. They did not enforce it when colored shirts became popular in the 80's.
My brother got in trouble for wearing a "bolero" type suit while operating mikes at a meeting. There was nothing immodest or extravagant about it. The cut was not all that short. My friend and I had picked it out for him and he looked very nice in it. It reaffirms that anything just slightly in style was looked down upon, at least for a few years until more people tried to get away with it.
I remember that there was a rule that sisters HAD to wear nylons. I always hated wearing them in service, especially on hot sticky days. I had no clue to why the older sisters and brothers thought is was immodest to go without nylons. You could see through them anyways.......I just don't get it. What does one-one-millionth of see through fabric have to do with immodesty???
There was a circuit-wide rule of no mini-skirts, or in thier terms,skirts above the bottom of the knee. I say it was only circuit-wide because in the big city circuits, the sisters were allowed to get away with skirts that were a little more showy than we were.
No slacks for sisters was a common rule. In some congregations near mine, a few sisters in the 70's and 80's tried to get away with a "nice pant-suit", but were immediately marked as bad association.
Pertaining to the comment from another poster on this thread about number of earring holes, we were looked down upon if we had more than 1 hole per ear!!! It was extremely worldly to have 2 holes or more per ear.
Oh, and no ankle bracelets. I tried to get away with this one, but was severely critizised. They told me that ankle braclets were tied in with prostitution. Maybe they were in some culture in another time, but not now! I still have those pretty ankle bracelets tucked away somewhere,,maybe should get them out and wear them.