@ziddina: It is like a broken record isn't it? An endless cycle of rehashed themes, with nothing really new in them. 'Ad nauseam' comes to mind...
@Chariklo: When Mrs Winston and I were discussing the talk afterward, we made the same point. They focus on the whole 'go to university, get drunk, have sex, take drugs, fall in love with money' thing all the time. These days the motivation get a qualification is more likely to be so that they can just get by rather than so they can make heaps of money and drive a Mercedes. Have a look through most job boards, and even for basic administration type jobs, employers are looking for you to have some sort of certificate. It is a great bonus that as part of this, people learn how to really study (nothing at all like pre-studying a WT article) and think and analyse and pick apart. I guess, luckily for JWs you don't need a certificate to prove that you can clean a window.
@Bubblegum Apotheosis: I have had the privilege of knowing and working alongside some great old timers through the years. Growing up without a dad was hard, but there were a couple of the olders brothers who looked after me like close Uncles, and I will be forever be grateful to them. They have, like your friend now grown old (not 102 though!). Regardless of what we believe, we can always learn much from dear old friends.
@nugget: You hit the nail on the head! If only Mr Splane had summed it up like you, we would have been there for a lot less than two and a half hours!
When he said that we need to lower our standards and not expect so much, I thought "If we lowered our standards any more when we were growing up, we would have had to go and live under a bridge." We had a house but little money. Mum pioneered and we got by on a government benefit and from mum doing some ironing jobs part time. Congregations worldwide are full of people and families like this. And yet these ones are guilt tripped into giving even more from the little they have (as per last week's Kingdom Ministry talk). Meanwhile, people who have not worked a full time job in many years, have three meals a day provided for them, commute downstairs for work and have room and board provided continue to tell us how to live out here in the real world.
