I haven't lived there in a while, but I grew up there and left in early adulthood, but from what I remember, the bethelites were looked upon as really spiritual people, they enjoyed special priviledges like money handouts and dinner invites and back then every girls goal including mine was landing a bethelite for a husband (they make the best husbands you know , so spiritually minded and all ). My freinds and I were pretty popular with the Bethel guys we got envited to many parties in their rooms, and yes beer was usually available, it was alot of fun. I never hooked a bethelite cause you usually had to be a regular pioneer before they would consider you as date material and I had a job in manhattan that I was not leaving, although I wasted my time doing auxiliary a couple of times a year. WHAT CRAP! Back then you would go out on service and it was exiting people would open their doors and listen to what you had to say, I used to place so many magazines and had studies and return visits galore, we would be out there come rain or shine, even in the snow, wrapped up like eskimos, I won't lie we had good times, since we really believed in what we were doing I never fudged my time back then.
NOW, things have changed considerably, that zeal people had is pretty much gone, my freind from NY who is a regular pioneer told me that service there has changed so much, people don't want to listen to you any more, very few even take the publications, she said it was really depressing , I feel sorry for her, she is completely devoted to this religion, and her husband is an elder/regular pioneer/and works full time and has done that for many years, they have wasted so much of their lives on this CRAP, when and if they figure it out, I fear she might jump off a building or something, as she has emotional problems.
Yes indeed times have changed, I'm just glad most of my family and I are free from this GARBAGE!!!
IC