My heart goes out to you Truman. Wishing you strength and (eventual) peace.
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Open mind
JoinedPosts by Open mind
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322
My son was murdered today
by truman ini have been on this site daily, almost from its beginning, since i left the jws in 2001, but i have been more of a reader than a poster, as you can see from my post count.
i know few here know me, although i know many of you through reading your posts.
maybe it is not right to ask for support, when i generally stay quietly in the background of this forum, but i want only to speak a human misery of the deepest kind.
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Absurd WT Control in April 2012 KM
by LostGeneration inyeah in the section on attending the convention, you will find this gem:.
"therefore, we should give attention to our dress and grooming while in the convention city, including when we check in at the hotel.
arriving in shorts and a t-shirt would not reflect dignity.".
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Open mind
Thanks for bringing this to light.
Princes Leia to Governor Tarkin the GB: "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
I'm going to make sure to remind JW relatives of this new requirement "suggestion" and see how well it is being received. Unfortunately for us, most of our relatives live close enough to DC sites to be able to commute daily.
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Where is Outlaw?
by Iamallcool inhe is one of my favorite posters, i look him up from time to time.
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Open mind
Hey if OUTLAW doesn't show up soon, stuff like this might start popping up around here:
Ewwwwwww.
C'mon back OUTLAW.
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It's Friday! Let's Drink Some Whisk(e)y!! (Responsibly, Of Course)
by Low-Key Lysmith inas some of you know, i am employed as master of whisky for seattle (pac nw).
i represent diageo n america's whisk(e)y portfolio.. this includes: johnnie walker, the classic malts of scotland, bushmills irish whiskey, crown royal, bulleit bourbon and rye whiskey, george dickel tennessee whisky, and bucchanan's blended scotch whisky.. my job basically involves speaking publicly about the whiskies, hosting and presenting whisk(e)y tastings and dinners, and educating bar & restaurant staff about whisk(e)y. tough gig, i know.. my mow bio & pic can be found on crown royal's website here: http://www.crownroyal.com/west-masters/breck-taylor.
i was thinking about putting a featured whisky of the week up here every friday.
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Open mind
Fantastic thread LKL.
My wife and I began our whisky(ey) education about a year ago.
Laphroig, Ardbeg, Bushmills (12 yr) & Bulleit Bourbon are the only ones here that I know we've tried.
For any JWs who would like to smoke a cigar without risking a Judicial Committee, try the Laphroig. It's a campfire in a glass.
Thanks again Low-Key.
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Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..
by Open mind inso was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "bethel speaker"?.
at least one congo in our area had one.
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Open mind
Thank you very much Barbara for calling it like you see it and in great detail.
FWIW, the picture you paint is exactly what I've heard from Bethelites over the years. The details change, but the broad strokes are the same.
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Another Memorial, and another year of at least one crazy partaker.
by wha happened? inwhat are your stories?
i hope there are some fresh ones.
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Open mind
One year an elderly pioneer roped two of her elderly Bible Studies into attending the Memorial. One of them was Catholic and a little bit hearing impaired. She decided she would come see how JWs do "communion".
In spite of all the boring blather from the platform, when the crackers came around she grabbed one and started to nosh on it. The pioneer flipped out and gave her a whispering earful for a couple minutes. But due to the Bible student's hearing issues, the "whispering" was somewhere around 75 decibels.
Anyway, when the wine came around the Catholic lady very begrudgingly passed the glass on without drinking it. But as she passed it she couldn't help but "whisper" (at about 85 decibels), "THIS IS STUPID!!"
People were holding back snickers for several rows around and the pioneer was mortified.
Best memorial I ever attended.
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Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..
by Open mind inso was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "bethel speaker"?.
at least one congo in our area had one.
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Open mind
Thanks again Barbara for your very funny/painful account. It sounds like the speaking trips made by car on the East Coast could be a real crap shoot. And, even if you were treated very well, given the Bethel schedule, it's still exhausting. I think a lot of times it would depend on just how much of a pressure cooker your Bethel job was. I knew a few Bethelites who kind of treated it like "JW Club Med". They traveled the globe, got treated great and had jobs they actually liked. But I think they were probably more the exception than the rule.
The bragging rights and "idolizing" are done among the local JWs. I can guarantee you that if Joe and Barbara were still Bethelites and came to our area, the usual handfull of name-dropping status seekers would be casually mentioning to members of surrounding congos: "So did you hear? Brother Anderson from Bethel is giving our Memorial Talk. How about your hall?" Knowing full well that the person they're talking to is just having Joe Local give their talk.
Very petty. Very sad.
One last thing, most Bethel couples I've seen have been very corporate and professional. They actually do a pretty good job of PR for Bethel, IMO. It's a strange mix of friendliness, polish and careful discretion.
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Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..
by Open mind inso was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "bethel speaker"?.
at least one congo in our area had one.
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Open mind
Just saw Barbara's post. Thanks for your perspective. Gotta go just now.
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Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..
by Open mind inso was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "bethel speaker"?.
at least one congo in our area had one.
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Open mind
Room 215: "... more often then not, a massive letdown..."
Absolutely. What's really sad is that I think it's that way by design. A few years back we had a very talented Bethel speaker come out and the only redeeming bit about his whole visit was that he also gave the Sunday talk. He followed the outline pretty well, but had enough latitude to make it fairly interesting. But the Memorial talk was STRICTLY by the outline and boring as hell. You could tell that the Branch had sent him out with a straight jacket for the Memorial.
usualusername: "I think some Bethel speakers clean toilets for a living."
I've never known one. Have you? Most approved Bethel speakers have been there quite a while and have moved up the ranks by then. Actually a new boy toilet scrubber would probably be more interesting than those who have had most of life's spark removed by years at the Big House.
OTWO: "Free trip, pocket money. Great deal for a starving couple and they credit the people who overwork them and underpay them for sending them out."
Agreed. From the Bethelite's perspective, it's a nice little perk to look forward to. I was thinking though that these days with the economy in the toilet, I'm surprised the Borg hasn't eliminated outgoing Bethel speakers, particularly to the West Coast. Round trip airfare alone for the speaker and his wife runs around $1000 - $1200. For a congo of 100 that's $10-12 per person. Fairly spendy by JW standards. Most of the time I've seen the elders twist the congo's arm into paying for it. It would be different if a deep pocket elder or two wanted to foot the bill themselves.
(Hope to reply to others later on break, but I'm at work now.)
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Memorial Bragging Rights: We Had a "Bethel Speaker"...Ooooooo..
by Open mind inso was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "bethel speaker"?.
at least one congo in our area had one.
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Open mind
So was your congo affluent & connected enough to have a "Bethel Speaker"?
At least one congo in our area had one.
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