by pratt1 34 Replies latest jw experiences
Maybe this only happens in urban neighborhoods but when I was growing up, many dubs engaged in street work, basically offering the magazines to people on the street as they walked to a destination.
Usually it was an area with a lot of foot traffic at a time when many people would travel the area.
Did you or people in your congo engage in this and were there any funny stories relating to this practice?
I did this a couple of times. Service was always gut-wreching for me, so I didn't really care what we did....except for ambushing people in parking lots and the telemarketing stuff. Telephone work was easy to avoid as I just didn't volunteer for it. The parking lot crap I stubbornly sat in the van and refused to take part in.
First time at street witnoiding was in Illinois near a college campus. We placed quite a few mags and tracts, but I hated asking people for addresses or phone numbers so there was no way a return visit could be made (aw, gee, too bad).
Second time was here in CT with a wonderful older brother who'd been a missionary in South America. He was just the best and made both me and the people he talked to so comfortable that it was actually enjoyable. He was the sort of person who made the "truth" attractive. There are some truly amazing people caught up in the cult.
In my congregation we did two forms of street work, the first is to find an area where there are tons of people (bus stops are always the #1 choice) the other is to drive around in the car and stop at bus stops if you spotted someone, laundery mats and gas stations. You can place so many mags doing this ( I think no one has been able to match my numbers). We always started at five in the morning, I always placed more mags than anyone in our car groups because I speak both Eng. and Spanish so if the car group though that someone in the bus stop only spoke spanish I was sent out to speak with them.
It was fun we drove around listened to music and always stopped for breakfast. I am actually going out on Sat for a few hours.
lola
Street work was my favourite, although it's now called "approach work." I found it the least stressful because you could take your time, look at the shops you passed (did a lot of shoe shopping that way) and only talk when you felt comfortable. I placed a lot of mags this way and actually many of my congregation's bible studies got started during street work. We had a very busy main street to work and on Saturday mornings there would be witnesses fighting to work it so eventually it had to be assigned to a different service group each week.
tall penguin
When I pioneered, I used to do it every Saturday morning. We used to start at 5am, and had 4 hours by the time the service meeting started. I do remember this one instance, I was out with my sister, and we approached an elderly man waiting for the bus. I asked if he would like something to read in his spare time, and he gave me a funny look. When I pulled out the tract, he sucked his teeth loudly and waved me off with his hand. I said have a good day, and he yelled back, "ITS 5 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH YOU??? We started walking away fast, and he kept yelling down the street, GO HOME!! GO HOME!! We were scared, but I think about it now and LMAO...
I am actually going out on Sat for a few hours.
EWWWWW.....If I had to name the biggest relief I experienced after becoming a 'dropout', it would be not having to go out in field service. The most sincere prayers I think I prayed were that nobody would answer the door! Just thinking about it now makes me feel queasy. I look back and still can't believe that I had to go out when my last baby was 2 days old because the Memorial was in a couple of days. Why in the hell did I feel it was my obligation to do that??
My husband, on the other hand, always loved it and still does. He's done the bus stop thing, laundromats, rest stops, truck stops....you name it.
Hi Pratt1, yes I actually did alot of this in Queens NY, with my freinds, we were out there rain or shine or snow, CRAZY CRAP, now that I think about it, all for a damn book publishing company oh well, I guess I'm not the only one. There's a person in my past who had the last name Pratt, I wonder what he's doing now, he would flip out if he knew I was no longer blinded by the WTS light . Cool, now I can see clearly now, and the rain is gone, damn, I'm stuck in that eighties time warp again!
IC
Twinflame the thing is with streetwork we spend 95% of the time in the car and drive half way around town so you really don't speak to alot of people, sure you place alot of mags but thats it. You have no real converstations just "hi good morning my name is.....would you like something to read?" most of the people in the area will take the mags.because they don't want to be rude but I highly doubt that anyone actually reads them.
lola
Yeah, we went to bus stops in downtown seattle. One time this toothless guy told us to F@%*K OFF!! At the time it was terrifying, but now I look back and crack up.
Street work was one of the tougher avenues of "service" for me, as I was already an anxious person and wouldn't want strangers approaching me on the street. A friend and I went to D.C. one Saturday and met a friend of hers and we did street work. I remember us passing a group of construction workers and leaving a couple tracts with those who were taking a break. As we strolled down the opposite side of the street, we came upon a shop that sold tarot cards, potions and supplies for those involved in magick, Wicca, etc. To my horror and embarrassment, the two JWs I was with decided to stop and gawk at the window display to the shop at the exact moment the group construction workers we'd just witnessed to walked by. They were so mesmerized by the stuff in the window, they didn't even notice the workers or my very red face.
I still wonder if the workers thought we were stopping at the shop to pick up supplies.
