Open mind

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Posts by Open mind

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  9

  Sitting poolside and guilt-free.

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was a couple years ago that my wife awakened to the true nature of jwism.

  today is our first overnighter (sans kids).

  at home this morning we called in to the k hall, listened to about 2 minutes of the public talk, had a couple good laughs and continued with a leisurely brunch.

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  Open mind

  Room Service breakfast with a view? Yes.

  Daily Text to go with it? No.

  *Clink our coffee cups together to keep Elders away*

  om
• 
  9

  Sitting poolside and guilt-free.

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was a couple years ago that my wife awakened to the true nature of jwism.

  today is our first overnighter (sans kids).

  at home this morning we called in to the k hall, listened to about 2 minutes of the public talk, had a couple good laughs and continued with a leisurely brunch.

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  Open mind

  It was a couple years ago that my wife awakened to the true nature of JWism. Today is our first overnighter (sans kids). At home this morning we called in to the K Hall, listened to about 2 minutes of the public talk, had a couple good laughs and continued with a leisurely brunch.
  
  Then we took off to one of our favorite local hideaways to spend the night.
  
  No kids. (We love them dearly and they know it.)
  
  No JWs.
  
  Just us.
  
  Life post-JW can be VERY, VERY good.
  
  om
  
  p.s. I wrestled with whether or not to share this when there's so many painful stories on JWN. But I thought it might be good, particularly for the lurkers, to know that there can be a light at the end of post-JW tunnel that isn't a TRAIN.
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  27

  Post your jokes here

  by dm6 in

  1. social
  2. humour

  hopefully this will get a good response because i love jokes, especially ones about the wt or jw's!.

  ill start it off.. .

  how do we know there are no female angels in heaven?.

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  Open mind

  Q: Why are these called the "LAST days?"

  v

  v

  v

  v

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  A: Because they LAST & LAST & LAST & LAST.......
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  16

  New JW shows up at my wife's work.....

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days.

  she also finds out through the jw grapevine that the consultant is a jw.

  (my wife and i are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.

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  Open mind

  The more detailed analyses of Momma-Tossed-Me, Flipper and steve2 make quite a bit of sense, but at the end of the day, we're all just speculating here.

  Giving the consultant the benefit of the doubt, PaintedToeNail's take might be right on the money:

  "Maybe the consultant JW felt she didn't have anything really in common with Open Mind's wife and wasn't comfortable just making chit-chat."

  This is probably best-case-scenario for the consultant and JWs in general. And if it's true, then it was a very unremarkable situation on the whole. Except for the last bit. That's the part that demonstrates the power of the JW religion.

  If the consultant & my wife had both been Baptists or had formerly attended the same school and my wife said "Oh, you went to XYZ High School? So did I." If the consultant was still feeling non-chatty, she could say "That's nice. Small world." and continued to not pursue a conversation. But if a JW finds out that a recently-met stranger is a fellow JW, there's a very strong expectation that at least a few more sentences of dialogue MUST take place, IMO.

  Picture this dialogue:

  My wife: "Oh, I just heard that you're a Sister!! I'm a Witness too!"

  Consultant: "That's nice. Small world." *walks away*

  If the consultant did that, she'd be sending up big red flags that something's not quite right in her JW world.

  In retrospect, my wife used the power of the cult to mess with this lady. And it worked. Yes, it was petty and manipulative.

  (And it was a little bit of fun. )

  The more detailed analyses of Momma-Tossed-Me, Flipper and steve2 make quite a bit of sense as well, but at the end of the day, we're all just speculating here.

  Cheers,

  om
• 
  38

  How do i overcome this guilt and fear?

  by newcomer1982 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ive recently decided not to be a witness anymore and at the age of 28 was still so afraid to tell my parents.

  the truth is their life and knew i would hurt them.

  ive had such a battle with the elders and because my dad is an elder its even worse.

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  Open mind

  Here's a quote that might be of some help. It's almost a cliche on this board, but I really liked it the first time I read it and so did my wife.

  "I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question."

  Embrace uncertainty. It's exciting as long as you don't let it overwhelm you.

  All the best to you on your path of discovery.

  om
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  16

  New JW shows up at my wife's work.....

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days.

  she also finds out through the jw grapevine that the consultant is a jw.

  (my wife and i are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.

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  Open mind

  leavingwt: Thanks for making me nauseous. LOL.

  ziddina: "This wasn't in a Jehovah's Witness-owned company, was it? "

  No. Even if it was, it would be pretty tough to get anywhere with a discrimination lawsuit, IMO. The consultant was just being cold toward my wife and gushy, friendly, talkative with the other JW there. She didn't overtly say or do anything illegal. But she immediately recognized she had been cold towards my wife, judging by her changed demeanor when my wife dropped the "fellow-JW" bomb.

  Just my $.02. I used to watch LA Law all the time so I'm pretty well informed on matters of law.

  om
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  16

  New JW shows up at my wife's work.....

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days.

  she also finds out through the jw grapevine that the consultant is a jw.

  (my wife and i are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.

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  Open mind

  don'tplaceliterature: I appreciate your honesty.

  sir82: Not a bad idea, but I think you're right about the end result being "fake nice".

  om
• 
  16

  New JW shows up at my wife's work.....

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days.

  she also finds out through the jw grapevine that the consultant is a jw.

  (my wife and i are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.

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  Open mind

  Momma-Tossed-Me: Interesting analysis. When I have a bit more time, I'd like to ask for more clarification on a couple points you made.

  I think the main reason I shared this story is I would have loved to have been there when the consultant made the 180 degree flip.

  Jim Morrison was definitely right with "People are strange."

  JW people are even stranger.

  om
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  16

  New JW shows up at my wife's work.....

  by Open mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days.

  she also finds out through the jw grapevine that the consultant is a jw.

  (my wife and i are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.

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  Open mind

  So my wife shows up for work and finds out that a self-employed consultant is going to be on site for a few days. She also finds out through the JW grapevine that the consultant is a JW. (My wife and I are faders, but still attend the occasional meeting.)
  
  Throughout the day my wife has several interactions with the consultant and each time, my wife is treated like so much dog manure under the consultant's shoe. The 3rd JW on-site is treated like royalty by the consultant right off the bat because, IMO, the consultant knows the 3rd JW is a JW.
  
  My wife strategically waits until the day is mostly over before blowing her JW cover. My wife asks something like: "So, do you attend the XYZ Congregation?"
  
  180 degree flip in attitude by the consultant.
  
  "Ohhhh, you're a Sister?!?" Gush, gush. Friendly, friendly.
  
  I'm not really sure exactly what, if anything, to make of this. It's not like it's stereotypical JW behavior. There are plenty of JWs who would be friendly to everyone in hopes of "giving a good witness".
  
  Any thoughts?
  
  om
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  102

  How do you make a living?

  by paulnotsaul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?

  what do you do now to survive?

  are you working or unemployed?

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  Open mind

  

  om