Posts by dottie

18

Deprogramming

by Perfection Seeker in

i am new on here- already posted one thing about life after leaving- got great responses.

as you can see by my name "perfection seeker" i was a witness.

i am now leaving, and not a perfection seeker :-) does anyone have information on exit counseling or deprogramming?

I think that making contact with others in the same situation is important. I remember when I left I elt alone, and especially in a small town, my only option I felt was to leave altogether. So now I'm on the opposite side of the country than my family. In the last couple years, I've found that even just reading stories on other websites, and I'm also new to this website, (which I think is fab, and a great place to vent) I've found quite a bit of "therapy" right in these pages. It's hard at first, but I imagine you already feel like that huge weight on your shoulders has been lifted off. I remember what that felt like, and that's the feeling of freedom baby, yeah!!!

The hardest thing for myself was coming to terms that this so-called truth is just another religion. When I came to that realization, it was very emotional. And you'll have emotional times too. Just remember that you're not alone, and you have the support of 1000's of other exjw's in this site as well as the 100's of other sites out there,(as well as in person too!!!)

Take care, and vent away when need be!!

Dottie

12

What a wonderful world it would be...

by joannadandy in

jw
friends

it just dawned on me...you can't give someone the finger if you are wearing mittens.. this may be of little importance to some of you in warm areas, but this bothers/intrigues me.

if i wanted to flip a bird while wearing mittens the person i am sending it to would just think i am angrily waving at them, and then the padded wagon of doom would come.. would more mittens in our society qwell road rage?.

i was also pondering skipping...i haven't had a good skip in ages!.

dottie

Skipping always made me happy when I was a child (scraped knees and all). I think it would do everyone a little good if they skipped for a few minutes everyday!!

Dottie

28

Let's talk about my kids (or "pets" i...

by joeshmoe in

jw
friends

whew!

i was just reading an earlier thread on disciplining kids.

exhuasting!

dottie

Joe,

I've often said that if Cosmo were human, he'd be Elton John (not that there's anything wrong with that) I've never known a big dog to be so cuddly and such a suck. Before we got Casey, when he would eat his meals he would actually sit down halfway though, chew his food, look around, smack his lips a bit the commence eating once again. After we got Casey, he stopped this, with her being a typical Lab and eating everything in sight faster than a hoover. He often sits with his legs crossed, and doesnot like to go on wet grass. Casey on the other hand is much more butch than he'd ever dream of being. Is this what often happens when we get our kids "fixed"???

Dottie

28

Let's talk about my kids (or "pets" i...

by joeshmoe in

jw
friends

whew!

i was just reading an earlier thread on disciplining kids.

exhuasting!

dottie

Joe, how did you know this was my favourite topic??? I could talk about my kids all day!! (but I won't cuz some may find it boring!)

I have 2 dogs as well. Cosmo(named after Kramer, cuz he'd enter a room like no other!) we adopted from the pound. He's a Black Lab cross. Crossed with what, we're not sure, but his hair's a bit longer than a Lab and his ears are shorter. He has amazing eyesight,(he springs at the TV when he sees dogs, cats, birds on) so, I'm thinking he's a mix of some sort of herding dog. He's 3 yrs old.

Casey we picked her up at a farm. She is Lab. Kind of a Lab mix. He dad was a Chocolate Lab and her mom was a Black Lab. She is pure comical genius as she is the younger of the 2 and is going to be a puppy most of her life. She'll be 2 in Dec. Casey too, is afraid of most larger objects, especially ones that make noise, (vaccuum, lawnmower, garden hose) but she can assert her dominancy when she wants.

In May, we were going to my sister in law's wedding, and we had to put them in a kennel for the first time. In the back where they would be let out to play, there were about 4 other dogs in this particular enclosing. Comso, went right in, to sniff the perimeter and other dogs, Casey would not leave my side. She was getting sniffed at by a friendly rotti who obviously wanted her to play. All of a sudden Casey lashed out at the rotti , basically telling him to leave her alone, the owner of the kennel(to whom the rotti belonged) says"well I guess we know who rules the roost now", just as he says this I look up and poor Cosmo's over in the corner getting humped by some burly shephard cross!! It was after this we finally knew who the alpha was in our house!!

Sorry for the long post, (I could go on forever!) these guys are all the kids I want right now, and I'll still be happy if they're all I'll ever have.

Dottie

42

JWs and Stronger Marriages?

by Pubsinger in

jw
friends

a bit of a follow on from the "honesty" thread.. another claim that jws make is that they have stronger marriages and are less likely to divorce.. try writing down all the jw couples that you know of that have divorced.. there are bonus points for those who didnt make 2yrs!.

i think you will be shocked at the number you can come up with.

we came up with 60 couples in less than 20mins.

dottie

Besides my own parents,(my dad was df'd 5 yrs into their marriage, they stayed married for 22 yrs) there was only maybe 1 or 2 in our hall that had marital problems. In my Mom's cong. that she grew up in however, it was like an infidelity hall not a kingdom hall! Everytime we would vist my mom's sister would fill her in on who's sleeping with who and who's moved out on who...kind of pathetic really.

Dottie

21

Rude/Snotty Witnesses

by dottie in

jw
friends

has anyone had an experience similar to the following?

or had a social life(total oxymoron, i know) like mine in the borg?

last evening we had to take our clothes to the laudrymat(sp?

dottie

Has anyone had an experience similar to the following? Or had a social life(total oxymoron, I know) like mine in the borg?

Last evening we had to take our clothes to the laudrymat(sp?) as our dryer was buggered, and when we pulled into the parking lot, a lady zipped into the stall which we were going to pull into. She then proceded to get out of her car and give us dirty looks while shaking her head at us. She was rude inside the laundrymat, as well scowling at me while I was waiting for a dryer. The whole time I'm wondering what her problem is. I when to sit down, out of her scowling line of sight, and when I got up to check my clothes I noticed her VERY involved in something, busy scribbling notes and such. When she walked away, I noticed on the table that she was studying the WATCHTOWER AND BIBLE!!!!!

I wanted to walk over there and cuff her upside the head with her bible, but instead, I "turned the other cheek".

I was thinking to myself later that it's a good thing that most of the witnesses I knew growing up were always in their various cliques, and I never fit in anywhere with anyone. If I had belonged to one of these cliques (like my younger brother did) I'm sure that I'd still be a witness today, baptized and being an uneducated housewife with 12 kids. One of the few instances in life where being the loner actually paid off!

Dottie

15

HOW DO YOU ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM?

by bay64me in

jw
friends

.

question for ex jws.......what do you really enjoy doing, now that you have the freedom to do it?

dottie

I am enjoying my freedom very much!! Although I will have to admit that for quite a few years after I left, I would have twinges of guilt when I picked up a drink, toke, smoke or anything else that was frowned upon! (Even the godforsaken premarital sex.) So to help remedy the guilt my then boyfriend & I would go to the bar, get smashed beyond talking and go home and fornicate!! A great way to compensate for lost time!!!

Dottie

47

Were you ashamed of being a witness?

by sleepy in

jw
friends

were you ashamed of being a witness?.

how did you feel about identifing yourself as a jehovahs witness to others?.

i often used to hide it because of the stigma attacthed to it.. was anyone actually proud to be one?

dottie

Embarrassed?? Hell yeah!! Humiliated, abandoned, insecure, lonely, but hey being the only witness ina an entire elementary school (except for my younger brother) is no big deal; just more kids to "witness" to right???

23

JW's Are People Just Like You and Me

by Sentinel in

hello all my new friends here,.

when i disassociated myself back in 1981, there were only just a couple instances afterwards, where the jdubs came to my door in the service of their ministry.

during those times, i would never ever answer the door.

dottie

Way to go Karen!!

Myself, I'm not at that point yet where I want to talk to them. When my brother was living with us, (he's DA'd) he would talk to them, and he turned out to be a RETURN VISIT!!! I was so mad at mt brother for encouraging them to come back to MY house, If the came when I was at home and he wasn't, I would either not answer the door, or be extremely rude.

I think now I'm not as hostile, but just harbour a bit of resentment. I'm not as bitchy about it as I used to be! :)

Dottie

27

Disgusting JW Funeral story

by PopeOfEruke in

i heard of a funeral held for a sister last week in a kh.. her non-jw daughter-in-law write a poem for her, and wanted to read it at the service in the kingdom hall.

the d-i-l had studied many years ago but was never baptized.

however, because she was wearing slacks, she was refused to read it from the platform and had to read it from her seat in the audience.. how low can you go?

dottie

My first experience with loss was the death of my granma. She was the sympathetic type as well, never baptized, but attended occasionally. My mother and her family had granma's "service" at the KH, and I was at this point no longer a part of the borg, and rather hateful towards them. Some guy, who probably never gave my Gram the time of day, gave the "eulogy". The first 10 mins were the notes that my mom and her siblings gave him, the rest of the 40MINS was a damn sunday talk...I was a mess needless to say. The first time I experience a death, I don't get a chance to say goodbye, I'm preached at by some dumbass that doesn't even KNOW my Gram, and countless people who see me crying are telling me that I'll see her soon again!!!!! Ironically, her death is one that I have never been able to heal from. In March '01 my Granpa, (her husband) passed away, so I got to relive the whole thing again...but now I'm a bit more mature and wiser to the borg and their "memorials". I am dreading the day my mom passes because I'll have to do this ALL over again. I think the real pissoff for me last year when the idiot onstage says: "and we have lots of this good news in our literature, at the bookcounter located at the back of the Hall"

AAAGGGHHH!!! I was sitting in the front row beside my sister, and I think I sqeezed her hand a little too hard when I heard this!! :)

Dottie