So something my big brother did, with whom I am incredibly impressed with his scheming, is this: He got the part time job and made sure he got scheduled to work during our regular Sunday Meeting time, and was "forced" to go to another congregation's meeting, during that time, he dressed, put his Watchtower in his pocket, and supposedly "went" to the other meeting. But actually he hung out in a local cemetary, doing homework, or reading other, more constructive material. Whenever our mom would ask if he attended he would happily lie. If asked for "content" he would be honest and say he couldn't remember anything. She never actually checked up on him, but then my mom didn't want to know the truth. Try "disappearing" (take those murderous dogs for walks) about half an hour before meetings and staying away for a few hours. Your mum may be there or not when you get back. One time, at a meeting, my brother got up and sat in the back row for awhile, then, during the changing of the "schools" he left, and came back after the closing prayer (that was pretty brilliant, I thought-no public scene, my mom was too mortified). The beauty of it is if she drags you to the elders, they might disfellowship you (you are baptized, aren't you?). You can sort of hold that over her head, the threat that if that occurred she might have to shun you, but still support you (the law says so). Also, if you are on meds, have the doctor "order" you to stay away from the Kingdom Hall and Bible Studies for awhile. If mum still insists, try getting catatonic. I always wanted to try that but chose the very direct approach (although for three years of high school, I had her believing I had a phobia of talking-no field service, no comments at meetings). Hang in there. It will be worth it. You sound like a goat after my own heart. Shoshana
La Capra
JoinedPosts by La Capra
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disturbing
by embalmed inunnecessary rant:.
dammit.
i hate the kingdom hall even more than before.
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I did it
by La Capra ini finished my first year of law school last month.
grades arrived at the end of last week, which was when i found out i am first in my class.
i was not trying for it or expecting it, so to say i was surprised is an understatement.
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La Capra
Oooh, yes, I want then to clean my windows. I bet I can find some poor pioneer sister to clean my house, and their Bethel-Bound boy to do my yard. I like it a lot. Thanks for the idea. Shoshana (PS, I love the name Shamus, it is underused in the U.S.)
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I did it
by La Capra ini finished my first year of law school last month.
grades arrived at the end of last week, which was when i found out i am first in my class.
i was not trying for it or expecting it, so to say i was surprised is an understatement.
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La Capra
I finished my first year of law school last month. Grades arrived at the end of last week, which was when I found out I am first in my class. I was not trying for it or expecting it, so to say I was surprised is an understatement. I can't help feeling this is a bittersweet victory. If I were "still in" and doing this, my achievement would be turned into a sin, and held out as a bad example and proof of something unchristian (take your pick of what), like whenever I did well at something in high school (I was actually counseled for being selected for honor band). Dang I am glad I am out and living well. I love law school. The chief public defender for the county has called and left me a message. I wonder what he wants....(probably to tutor his kid in math, huh?) Shoshana
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Are there any teachers on this board?
by logansrun inso, i'm thinking about becoming a high school teacher.
i'm finishing up a summer course at my community college and will be going to northeaster illinois university in the fall.
i've been thinking about majoring in biology and secondary education (instead of history and secondary ed.).
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La Capra
I am a high school math teacher in California. This is my eleventh year teaching. At the end of my tenth year, I decided to go law school. I love teaching. I love spending my days with bright, witty, hopeful and energetic adolescents. But I was bored out of my mind with the curriculum. I am a creative, artistic type, and there came a point where the material got old. I hear this happens in ALL subject areas. I have been told that having significant outside interests makes this a more bearable kind of boredom, which is why I decided to go to law school. The money was really bad my first few years teaching. But I made it a priority to get all the units I needed to max out my salary credits as early as possible. Non-teachers always say it's a good deal because we get summers off, to travel, but the reality is that travel is expensive, more so in the summer, and if a teacher wants to get ahead financially, she needs to work in the summer for awhile. You will feel a financial pinch for about five years, which seems to be the "survival rate" of about half the new teachers in California. The politics of teaching is pretty horrific, but if you can keep your eyes open, your mouth shut, and figure out who in your particular district is the one to keep happy, once you have tenure, there is a lot of freedom to do what you please. The main stress of teaching is that no matter how many hours of your own time you put into it, there is more that you can be doing. This is the heart of what makes teaching so stressful-no matter what, you are never done. If you are a parent, or plan to be one, teaching is the type of career that does give you more time with your children, since the schedules are similar. Most teachers struggle for about five years with the paper chase, then a system that works for them emerges. As far as the district paper work goes, it is, in actuality, minimal, unless you are teaching in a special services area (English Language Development, Speech Therapy, Special Education). And teachers are notorious flakes when it comes to this kind of thing, too, so in all likelihood, the secretaries have to remind the teachers of everything that does need to be done, paperwork-wise. Teaching high school isn't rocket science or brain surgery. There is a fairly forgiving margin for error. In fact, considering that a typical teachers has to make over 5000 decisions a day in carrying out her duties, and most of those decisions are then tweaked by 160 individual immature human beings, there HAS to a fairly forgiving margin. Teaching preparation programs can be expensive, so if your state has a program that can get you into a classroom BEFORE committing to most of the training, you can save yourself some time and money testing it out to see if you really want to do it. Substitute teaching isn't always a valid test because it's always someone else's show you are temporarily running. You need to find out if you like putting on your own show. Good Luck. Shoshana
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This is Cappuccino OC - long/short story
by happybdaytomeAKAcappucinoOC inthis is cappuccino oc.
i'm not a newbie.
when my computer crashed in december i lost my passwords to this forum, my dummy e-mail account, etc.
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La Capra
Congratulations on your "first-year-of-grad-school" success. I am envious of your ability to begin your internships in merely a year's time. I have been wondering about you and your grad school journey, as we began ours at about the same time. I also finished my first year successfully . I have been absent from the forum, as well, because of the format changes and work and school all the time. I would love to hear more about your educational adventures and victories (e-mail me again, please, so we can compare back-to-school notes). I hope you get a chance to treat yourself in celebration of your achievements. As one who treats herself for remembering to get to the bank before it closes, I wholly recommend the "treat yourself" philosophy to life. So many of us on this forum lived in a culture in which true achievement was forbidden and if accidentally obtained was never acknowledged as an opportunity for the community to rejoice. So, Capp, rejoice, celebrate, and thank you for sharing your success with us, so that we may share in your joy of achievement. Your post has made my day. Thank you. Shoshana
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Ozzie's 50th Weekend Poll (Golden Anniversary Poll)
by ozziepost inyep, it's that time again!
so, how's your weekend going?
after a week of rain, we were pleased to see a bright sunny wintery day.
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Ozzie's 50th Weekend Poll (Golden Anniversary Poll)
by ozziepost inyep, it's that time again!
so, how's your weekend going?
after a week of rain, we were pleased to see a bright sunny wintery day.
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La Capra
My earliest memories involved being at those interminable meetings and being dragged to my feet from my sleep for a song and prayer. RIght before me (since I could never keep my eyes closed during prayer) I would see the red painted metal backs of the upholstered movie theater style seating (complete with armrest between each seat over which to fight with my brothers). About the time I could see past the seats the hall got repainted, upholstered and recarpeted. There was some deep discount from someone, but it limited the choice of the upholstery to a pale gold-yellow naugahyde. Someone also got a great deal on green indoor/outdoor (not astro-turf) carpet. That meant that the only real choice anyone had was paint color for the backs of the chairs. The choice was an obvious one: avocado green. I always tried to use my feet to rub the green paint of the foot bars in the seat ahead of me, so the red would show through. About ten years later everything got redone again, in neutral tones of ivory, light warm browns and off-white tweeds . Shortly before some bigwigs' daughter and son were getting married. Mother of the bride chose that color scheme I'm sure. Shoshana
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Give A Sample Of What a Watchtower Magazine Will Say 10 Years From Now
by minimus inany thoughts??
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La Capra
I have no idea when the 100th anniversary of the Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society was/is, but you can bet it WON'T be acknowledging or celebrating that. Tee Hee. Shoshana
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Back a few pages
by La Capra ini was reading the thread here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/20/51101/1.ashx and was reminded of the months prior to my much planned disassociation.
this was over fifteen years ago.
i was nineteen.
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La Capra
Thanks 6. I was pretty lucky to have a Dad that would not support my mother in her desire to have her three children grow up to be elders or eldresses. I also inherited a strong mind from my mother (which she checked at the door when she decided to put her uterus to work). The piece-de-resistance was my older brother who had exited before he entered by working on meeting nights and claiming to go to the "morning" meetings on Sundays, instead hanging out in the local hillside cemetary. When I told him I wasn't going anymore either, he immedieately sent me a copy of Crisis of Conscience (this was in 1987), and I read it before I dissasociated. Ray Franz sure made it clear and simple. I can't take credit for being clear thinking. I had some good friends on the outside (thanks to my Dad insisting I have whatever friends I please) and a close relative who had been through what I had. Now a genuine clear thinker would know how to achieve paragraphs, links and quote boxes in her posts. And she graduate from Hello Kitty to something more intelligent. Shoshana
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Back a few pages
by La Capra ini was reading the thread here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/20/51101/1.ashx and was reminded of the months prior to my much planned disassociation.
this was over fifteen years ago.
i was nineteen.
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La Capra
I was reading the thread here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/20/51101/1.ashx and was reminded of the months prior to my much planned disassociation. This was over fifteen years ago. I was nineteen. I was just about to tell my mom what I was going to do when she decided to take us on a trip to Hawaii with other witness friends and family. I decided that in the grand scheme of things, it would be better to wait until after she had her trip than for her to have to explain the change in plans and why I wouldn't be going. The trip was torture for me. While the thought of basking in the Hawaiian sun would normally thrilled me, the fact that it was holding me up on my plans made it an annoyance. Before we left for Hawaii, I would say "This is the last time in service" , "This is my last time at this house for a book study" "This is my last meeting at this Kingdom Hall". While we were in Hawaii, we went to the Sunday meeting and all I could think of the whole time was "Last opening song, last opening prayer, last monotone talk, last middle song, last Watchtower study, last closing song, last JW prayer....Ever". I tried to leave my songbook and Watchtower behind but some little girl came running after me to return them to me (Witnesses are such good people). Once we got home and the next meeting was upon us, I didn't start hustling to get ready. My mom didn't notice until it was time to leave and she asked me if I would drive. I told her I wasn't going, and returned to the newspaper I was reading. When she asked why, I said I didn't want to and that I was never going to go to another meeting again. Later that night I told her I wanted to disassociate myself. She took it very calmly. But then I let several months pass while doing nothing. I had thought it through and decided that I would get around to it when I got around to it. I had better thinkgs to do than write a stupid letter. Enter my mother's whining. Apparently she was no longer Sister Popular since I was not going, and the rumors were flying. She couldn't stand the rejection and speculation. She complained to my father (long-suffering unbelieving mate) that I "had promised to write a letter and hadn't," and now her "life was a mess because" I "had gone back on my word to disassociate". My father had the sense to laugh at her and remind her that 20 years earlier she herself had picked the religion, and she couldn't expect anyone who hadn't had the same choice to follow their rules. Then he told me to stop torturing my mother, write the letter and let all their gossipy energy turn into sympathy and condolences. So I did. My only regret is that I did not gather up all my friends, my Dad and my non-witness family to attend to announcement of my disassociation, leaving flyers on all the cars in the parking lot announcing a "reception immediately following". That for sure would have ruined my mother's reign of martyrdom. Just reminiscing about the days of early adulthood. Shoshana