Posts by Namaste

14

Did any of you have a microphone fear/phobia?

by eclipse in

jw
friends

i did.

i hated commenting because of it...i hated giving talks on the main school, .

i hated hearing my own voice...,my voice always sounded like i was scared shitless lol.. anyone else?

Namaste

Yes, complete fear of them! I would sit there for several paragraphs beforehand just dreading the time that I had raise my hand, hoping they wouldn't call on me. Bookstudy I usually didn't have a problem with. Talks in the back rooms were "okay" but put me on the stage with the mic and I was Miss Shaky Voice for the next 5 minutes. I thought the "theocratic ministry school" was supposed to help prepare us for speaking in public. All it did was make me worse because I was always expecting a critique when I was done with any public speaking.

9

Shunned from society, widows flock to city to die

by Grammy in

and i thought the jw's treated their elderly badly.. this is the most horrendous thing i have ever heard off, it's truly disgusting!.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/world/asiapcf/07/05/damon.india.widows/index.html?eref=rss_topstories.

.

Namaste

Wow I had no idea that occurred. I can hardly wrap my brain around the idea of rejecting your mother and putting her on the street to die because of tradition. I'm interested in finding out if there are any organizations that you can donate to and help fund these homes. So sad.

27

What jobs have you done as. . .

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

ok we all have stories of "window-cleaners" but some of us had other kinds of work - that you got payed for (slave labor excepted).

so what kinds of things have you done?

what did you enjoy?

Namaste

namaste, there's actually a knock-off wal-mart store? lol

Heehee....okay, maybe a knock-off Kmart? I can barely remember the name...I think it was Alco? It's been over 13 years since I worked there.

27

What jobs have you done as. . .

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

ok we all have stories of "window-cleaners" but some of us had other kinds of work - that you got payed for (slave labor excepted).

so what kinds of things have you done?

what did you enjoy?

Namaste

First job was at McDonald's - mom had to drive me to it. It was great, got me out of the house on weekends.
Office Clerk at travel agency - boring beyond belief, I didn't do a great job, not sure why they kept me
Sales person at young men's clothing store - more about this later
Video store clerk for 1 shift - the owner hired me, the manager thought I couldn't handle the job so I was fired. I think she just didn't want competition!
Went back to clothing store to beg for job back. Stayed with them for 12 years working up to District Manager position.
Went insane and thought I should go to where the need was great so I spent 6 months working at Dairy Queen and some knockoff Walmart type store so I could help support my pioneer friend (eventually became a card carrying pioneer myself)
Came back home, worked part time for clothing store (see above) in different part time jobs, sunk into horrible depression and could no longer support myself (living with parents at 26 after giving up my apartment and job to go "pioneering")
Got myself together and worked as a temp for a company that made the sound systems and such for airplanes - had a power mad, first-time manager that was sleeping with the boss...she made life just peachy.
At the same time as the job above, worked part-time at Waldenbooks to make extra money - my second favorite job. Easy, fun, and they had books!
My last fulltime job before leaving to stay home with my son - Executive Assistant for a VP at a staffing company for 5 years. Favorite job, liked my boss a lot (yay for strong women! I learned a lot from her that I could never have learned from any JW woman), had a great time with my coworkers.
My last but still kind of doing job - Yoga instructor for beginning yoga. I do private classes at companies and through the local parks & rec department. Wait, I take it back...THIS is my favorite job :)

25

Have you ever thought of killing someone?

by John Doe in

jw
friends

have you ever had enough contempt for someone to consider doing such a thing?

Namaste

Only hypothetically. Now that I'm a parent I don't understand how other parents restrain themselves when someone harms their child, particularly in regards to sexual abuse. This is a major fear of mine with my son and I plan to do everything possible to protect him and also give him the tools to protect himself. But seriously, if someone ever touched him, I can't imagine not wanting to hurt the person that did it.

13

Late-growing girls?

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

i've apparently grown half an inch in my 20's.

i think this is bizarre.

anyone else heard of it for girls?

Namaste

Strange, I thought I was the only freak

For many many years I was 5'2"...then sometime in my late 20's I was measured again and magically I was 5'3".

So now I've grown taller, my shoe size went up a size after having my son, and then I come to find out that your ears and nose don't stop growing as you age. I am frightened to think of what I'll look like in a few more years!

74

Update! Drew Sagan is no longer a Jehovah's Witness

by drew sagan in

jw
friends

as promised here is all of the info regarding what has been going on.

per the last jc with the elders i realized that all i had done was buy time.

they felt that we should be df'ed right on the spot, but because i made a plea to wait for a letter coming back from the wts they decided to hold on taking such action.

Namaste

Wow! I'm new here and am a little stunned that this is all it takes to get DF'd these days. I'm very interested in your story and look forward to reading some of your older threads. I'm hoping that someday I may be able to help my parents see a little light regarding this religion they have been with for 50-60 years. I know that it is a slim chance, but I have a little hope.

In the meantime, all the best to both of you!

38

Baptism at age 11 next Saturday

by Fatfreek in

i just learned that one of my grandsons (whom i've never met) will be baptized on saturday.

he will be twelve in november.

what's happening within the publishing company to inspire this sort of thing?

Namaste

I have 2 nieces that were baptized young. One just recently at age 11 and her sister was probably 12 when she was dunked. I'm sure the 9 yr old isn't far behind. For my sister-in-law (she is divorced from my never baptized brother) having her daughters baptized is definitely a badge of honor. It's kind of an "look and see how wonderfully I am doing raising my girls by myself." Admittedly my brother is a jerk and not a great father by any means, so I think she sees this as opportunity to "prove everyone wrong" (including my JW parents) that a single mom can't raise children "in the truth."

She has the girls parrot back all the lines about looking forward to pioneering and maybe even going to Bethel. The Bethel part is ridiculous, in all my years I never knew one single female that went to the big house. Whenever I have the opportunity I ask about other things they want to do and encourage that whenever possible. I emphasize career opportunities and try to help them see a life beyond being a JW. I'm definitely here for them if they ever decide to get out. I want them to know they have a safe and non-judgemental place to go. Their Auntie Namaste will understand and give them refuge if ever it is needed.

55

What was your WORST Field Service encounter???

by TheCoolerKing in

someone mentioned to me the other day about going door to door back when i was a jw.

"weren't you scared to do something like that, knock on a stranger's door?

actually it's been so long that i had almost forgotten.

Namaste

A friend and I moved to another state to work "where the need was great" (it really wasn't, apparently they had the territory covered just fine over the course of the year. I think they just wanted to see some fresh blood in the hall once in awhile) for 6 months.

So we were out in farm country driving mile upon mile to the next house. Come across a young guy in the yard of some ratty looking house/farm and proceed to tell him the good news. He gets all happy and smiley with us, which exposes all the chewing tobacco stuck in his teeth *shiver*) and invites us into the house. Being good dub-girls we follow and find another brother and ole pappy. The have us sit on 2 chairs in the kitchen and proceed to leer and slobber over us for the next half hour while my friend diligently tries to place magazines and invite them to the hall. I didn't say much, I was always pretty crappy at field service!

I felt so sick to my stomach the whole time we were there, I remember trying to keep my legs from shaking. I kept thinking is this where we get raped and murdered??? Now that I have seen parts of the movie Deliverance, I remember thinking when I saw they bad guys, hey that's what the farmers looked like at the house where I thought I was going to die!

I can honestly say my prayers to God during that call were fervent and from the depths of my soul.

41

When Did You Start Feeling Uncomfortable In The Truth?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

when did you start feeling uncomfortable in the truth?it started out for me by asking questions out of curiosity, which eventually led me.

out of the organization.

my history as a jehovahs witness could easily be summed .

Namaste

First post for me! :) My answer is before I was ever baptized.

Born and raised a JW but just couldn't commit to getting baptized (something never felt quite right to me about the whole thing) until I was 22 or 23 (can't even remember when it was!) I was planning a big trip to another country with a friend and knew that she wouldn't go with me unless I was a baptized witness in good standing with the congregation.

So I went to an elder and said hey I'd like to get baptized and he basically said I had to prove myself. So there I was, after spending decades going to meetings, never missing an assembly and being the daughter of an elder , having to "study" with one of the elder's wives to prove that I had the correct knowledge and could be baptized. I was so irritated at having to go through all that! And then to go through the questions with 3 different elders. Ugh...the whole time I'm thinking in my head, this is so ridiculous!