How wonderful for you!!
What an interesting job! I bet you have lots of stories to tell about the fares you've picked up, huh? Gotta say I love the picture on PEC's post, LOL!
hugs,
Annie
some of you may know i'm a cab driver and i have been one for 3 years.the company i've been working for doesn't require a hack license.a hack license is a thing in my line of work needed to work in most big citys as a cab driver.you have to take a test to prove you know the city and if you pass you get your hack license.not many people can pass the test.. i've been working for a suburban cab company so i never needed one before.well a few weeks ago i looked into changing cab companys.so i called one and talked to the general manager about coming to that company.he was excited about it and set me up to take this test.i took the test a few weeks ago.i failed the first time but i had a feeling when i left that i was going to fail.not because i don't know my city but because the test asks for exact address of major attractions businesses and hotels through out not only the city but the county as well.. so the following week i took the test again.i had a good feeling this time.i tried to call the guy back and get my results on the day i was supposed to.i couldn't get him on the phone.i started to think i had failed again so i thought i would let a few weeks go by and call him again to take the test again.. well he called me yesterday and said i had passed.i am so excited.so my good news is i am changing cab companys.i can now work in the city of cleveland with out worrying about getting a ticket.now all i have to do is pass the drug test which is not a problem for me because i don't do any kind of drugs at all and a dot phyical.. the reason for the change is i'm not making enough money at my currant company.we are only allowed to pick people up in the burbs and that makes it hard to make money.this company has many school trips paid for by the school boards and county.i will be able to have the cab 24/7 if i want.i can drive when ever i want without having to go and pick up a cab.. i know 2 guys who went to this cab company this year.the first went this summer and he told me he's making between 1400.00 a week and 900.00 a week take home.i'm making between 400.00 and 500.00 a week now.so i'll be making way more money..
How wonderful for you!!
What an interesting job! I bet you have lots of stories to tell about the fares you've picked up, huh? Gotta say I love the picture on PEC's post, LOL!
hugs,
Annie
2 years ago i left jws.
i went to a baptist church because it was what my husband was.
i knew i wanted to go to church but which one i really didn't know yet.. two years later, i think i have made up my mind: presbyterian.. anyone have anything they want to share?
I don't know if I will ever feel the need to commit to a particular church but that is just me at this time. I don't believe that any church has the "Truth" in the way that cults like the JW's do. We all have our own journey and have to do what feels right for us so I wish you every happiness and peace of mind in yours.
Maddie....I could have written this myself!
The Protestant Christian churches that I know of, all seem to share the same basic beliefs, none too drastic or different from one another, from what I have seen. I don't feel that any f them has "THE absolute truth" either, but they do have a love for the Lord and for each other that helps with the "gathering together" to love and fine works that the bible teaches us to do.
It is when they stand up in front of you and demand that you MUST do this or that....and supply twisted scriptures to support their demands....is where I draw the line and leave.
2 years ago i left jws.
i went to a baptist church because it was what my husband was.
i knew i wanted to go to church but which one i really didn't know yet.. two years later, i think i have made up my mind: presbyterian.. anyone have anything they want to share?
Hi Sweetie,
I know zip about the Presbyterian beliefs, but if you find peace and enjoyment in the service and with the Pastor (or I should say in what he preaches)---then go for it! You can always change your mind down the road if you find something that you definitely disagree with or that spiritually speaking, rubs you the wrong way. We know that the members will not be instructed never to speak to you ever again if they see you in Walmart!
I truly wish you the very best in your new path.
hugs,
Annie
everyone that chimes in on the card and letter exchanges are so upbeat just getting their pm's lifts my spirts, so.... i had an idea .
i asked the deary and she said yes she would so love that!!.
i have her mailing address so pm me and i will send it to you!
I just opened an absolutely BEAUTIFUL Christmas card from.....Tucson AZ.....(it's a big place and not a tniy village like I live in...and I hope you don't mind me mentioning it) but I do not know the screen name of the person who sent it! This is the third card like this where the sender gives a name but not KNOWING your names...I still do not know who sent it, LOL! ONE of you---I just figured out who you were by your locale and the (real) first name you used at the end of a post!
I am amazed at the beauty of the cards this year, and how unique these cards are! We are enjoying each and every ONE of these.
hugs,
Annie
prearranged comments, scripted answers, word-for-word answers from the paragraph,.
no outside material allowed, short comments.... .
does anyone really learn anything at the hall?
Well I hate to disagree with you...But I learned to be a public speaker.
It was brought to my attention that smoking was bad for GOD & wanting to please GOD I stopped( 2 packs a day....)ONLY FOR GOD! COS I really enjoyed it.
I used to be a real swearer( so cleaned up my mouth)
so although I now believe it is an evil organization I did learn something
If I thought I sat there for 25 years FOR NOTHING !!! it will devaste me even more
I am able to speak at so many place now to share how misguided the WT is ..So THE Ministry School taught me that. Many folks say after my speech "Your a GOOD Speaker" Well who taught me?
Oh goodness....Grace has pretty well summed up what I was going to say!
I DID learn (and teach my children) how to gulp down a quick dinner , get the dishes done and the kitchen neatened up, get themselves showered, changed and all ready for the meetings after school twice a week!
for afew years a have been fading and telling my wife how i feel about such false doctrines as blood transfusions, 607 b.c.e date etc.
at first she would say "don't talk to me about discouraging things!!
" since i haven't been attending meetings or field service for over 2 years she has slowly quit 1. witnessing, then 2. theocratic school which she hated anyway but was forced to do.
Hearty congratulations on finding the EXIT door to out of the WTS!
I hear ya about the "we'll miss you" stuff.....after 30 years of only "allowed" to develop friends withing the WTS and then leaving....I got ONE email from ONE JW (who I didn't particularly LIKE) that asked where else would I go now! THIS was the extent of any love and caring! Unfortunately, it is to be expected from an unloving and discompassionate cult.
The REST of your lives are all right in front of you!!!
hugs,
Annie
just a while ago, i was looking at the clouds in the dark sky, and i saw a rotating pattern of lights, moving clockwise going left, then moving counter clockwise and moving right.
it did that for a while, going back and forth maybe 10 times.
about 100 lights made up this rotating pattern.
In the early 70's at dusk, there was a HUGE silent floating thing that hovered over our roof (and the adjoining field) that had flickering green and orange lights on the underside. Hubby was outside at the time, and he hollered at me through the back window to come and SEE this thing. It stayed for only a short time and then quickly shot away and vanished. Our electricity had gone off just before it arrived and came back on after it had left. It was all REALLY weird.
since it's cold here in the northeast, they'll remove everything down to the slab, and then do a quick-build in february.
of couse, they had their meetings the next day after the fire....don't want to have anyone get out of the routine of mind-numbing cult meetings!!!
they are going to be going to yorkana congregation, and boy does that congregation need more numbers!!
As a Former JW I commented on this article too.
I wonder if the Red Lion publishers will be expected to fill out slips with the $$$ amount they are willing to donate every month to the NEW Kingodom Hall they think they will need?
Either way...the WT corporation will benefit from it.
dansk's christmas tree thread got me to thinking .. in this house we do not celebrate since my wife is still a die hard dub.
i have no complaints about that, it was our joint choice for decades and i an the one that changed .but as witnesses we were always given the negative view of the holiday time :-.
"people feel that they just have to do it although they do not really want to".
Grammy Sandi said: Yes, I have always loved Christmas and I really missed it while a JW.
I grew up celebrating the holidays, and had four small children when I became a JW. I MISSED CHRISTMAS TOO.... but for 30 years after, I buried my feelings thinking "I was pleasing Jehovah". I have always loved everything about the season: the lights---the decorations---the fun buying, wrapping and stashing gifts until they are to be put under the tree---the whole thing from beginning to end!
Yes....there ARE those things mentioned earlier that can be seen as negative, but there is a negative side to EVERYTHING if one chooses to dwell on that! "Some people" just want to sit and find things to grumble and complain about, and to bring down the joy and happiness of others. For whatever reason, they seem to find "pleasure" in trying to ruin things for everyone else, the old "BAH HUMBUG" attitude!
At my age, I honestly feel that I enjoy Christmas MORE than those that have (continuously) had it in their lives all along. Having it "taken away" has only enhanced my appreciation for even the little things that ARE Christmas. I had always avoided the holiday decorations and ornaments aisles EVERY YEAR for the 30 years I was a JW.....and the first year I allowed myself to walk through these displays when leaving the WTS....I was like a little kid looking and oohing and ahhing at ALL the wonderful things they had done with things to decorate with!!
I was racing from one aisle to the next, and just couldn't drink in all these things in fast enough! My "worldly" friend was getting such a kick out of my reaction to stuff that she was used to seeing each year, and was telling some other people we know, and teasing me about my enthusiasm, LOL!
Right now---I am tickled with all the Christmas cards being received---ALL (thus far) from the great folks here on JWD! It is not even the 1st of December and my pretty little card basket on the dining room table is quite full already! The first year (2000) that I decided it was time to celebrate Christmas (again), we got THREE Christmas cards....two from family members and one from a gal on the internet. The one from the internet was the very first one from anyone in those 30 years!
Truly....how could anything that brings so much joy and happiness to others....(supposedly) bring "such displeasure" to the Creator of all mankind? Then again....we have to consider the source of who believes this....and remember ALL the negativity in THEIR lives.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
hugs,
Annie
I just saw this:
When you started listening to the witnesses weren't you at a pretty low place in your life?
Yes....this is true for me....in so many ways. That "paradise earth" sounded SO ideal from my living in a housing project in an urban area and trying to raise little ones, trying to keep things together on a meager budget. I totally fell for the WTS "wouldn't YOU like to live THERE" line.
moments ago, i talked to my mom.. i told her that i was taking some time off from going to meetings and service.. the conversation went down hill from there.. as her usual she just dismissed my reasons as if they meant nothing.. i pointed to the child molestations as my main reason for leaving.. "you are being over-sensitive", "jehovah takes care of things in his own time", "rely on jehovah".
those were the catch phrases of the conversation.. a new one was: "what have you been reading?".
i have a hard time standing up to my mother.
In these situations. love and loyalty and emotions get all tangled up in a ball, and are difficult (at best) to seperate and place in the proper compartments. The WTS has worked extremely hard at making sure this is done, AND in just this way!
Those who doubt what the men of the WTS teach---are not automatically (or necessarily) doubting GOD, but the WTS has purposely confused the lines on this issue. Those who DO decide toleave the WTS teachings---are not turning their backs on GOD, but on the MEN in Brooklyn.....but loyal JWs just CANNOT SEE the difference.
The tears she is shedding, are from the FEAR of what the men of the WTS will expect from HER if you decide to leave THEIR teachings and interpretations behind. These fears and tears are real.....but just misdirected at YOU.....when it is THEM she is truly afraid of.
I wish you the best, and hope you can find the strength and the courage to take the necessary steps you need to---to go on with the rest of YOUR life in a meaningful and fulfilling way.
hugs,
Annie