Did anyone here ever really like field service?

by exwitless 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  JWdaughter

  I liked the socializing during the break and in the car (which on a good day was most of it!) My mom is kind of anti social, so that was the only way I got to know anyone. Hated it when I had to go with the mean pioneer who grimly got her hours in. I don't know if she hated it, but she didn't ever smile, so you can figure out how much fun she was. Her name was BD. What kind of name is that? No one ever called her sister "S". She was just BD and thats it. No break with her! I also got sodas when I went out in service. In our house, we rarely got to drink pop, so that was a treat-going out for a meal with a couple of dollars and no mom telling me what I could have (she gets in two hours a month, if she can't think of a good excuse to get out of it). Going out in service is probably the only reason I ever had a social life or was accepted by the kids my age. Figured I was a good associate since I went out in service-even if my mom was weird and uninvolved with anything.

  I am very socially retarded and being on the outskirts of an already weird religion was a double whammy. Should have been like my sis and disregarded all of it and ignored my upbringing. I don't think she EVER went out in FS. Will have to ask her.
• 

  monophonic

  it was a necessary evil for years...but for about a year before fading i didn't push the magazines too hard and would just read scriptures and discussions w/ people first...with no reasoning book type objection stoppers and treated 'worldly' people with respect....when i did that, i actually liked service and it felt rewarding and i did it on my own terms and people were really cool to me...i think they sensed i wasn't judging them.

  but that's all back when i was under the impression that i was in the truth and just slacking off.

  field service sucked most of my life....BUT, there were some excellent times when all us teens would be smooshed together in the back seat of a car while our parents drove us around on return visits and i'd sit next to a sister i was hot for, right up against her, it was pubescent heaven and got me through the rough spots....adjusting my leg has much as possible to rub up against hers, accidentally touching hands. yummy!
• 

  PrimateDave

  Being raised by Witnesses, I had no choice but to become an unbaptised publisher when they thought I was old enough. I disliked "field service" ever since.

  I didn't mind going on Bible studies with other people so much. Doing other people's return visits was okay. I hated going up to houses cold, not knowing who or what to expect. I never participated in phone witnessing because I can't stand getting calls from telemarketers myself.

  All in all, I can't remember a single time in my life that I ever looked forward to going to the hall to meet for FS. It's much nicer to stay at home in bed and sleep late.

  The magazines were boring to me when I was younger. When I became a bit more JW gung-ho, I paid more attention to the Watchtower. The Awake! always seemed to be so much fluff. Now, I just glance through them realizing exactly what they are, cult mind control literature.

  Dave
• 

  moshe

  The only time I like FS was when I was able to trump a householder using a Bible verse and they didn't have a comeback. You know, starting in 1976 my heart just wasn't in it anymore- I wish a really informed householder had said something to jar me to my senses back then.
• 

  bluebell

  i didnt like it at all but my littlest sister loved it and used to beg to be taken out.
• 

  logic

  The WTS knows going in field service is a miserable, torturous, unnatural thing to do, that is why they call it a sacrafice. I have always hated going out in field service. I found that if you are out with brothers only, and mention that you don't like field service , that you will get the same reaction from them. The only way you can enjoy it is if you like to tick people off. I did know some people who were like that. They liked making other people miserable in general, sort of a sadistic attitude.

  In my younger days there was a young sister that would never park her car in the shade in the summer when she made her calls, so we sat there in the sun, cooking. She was that way about everything especially the brothers. She would never give the magazines away, had to get the money. She made going in field service that much more crappy.

  In general, when witnesses say they had a good day, it means they found no one home, or spent most of their time on a coffee break, or went with thier little group of favorite friends.
• 

  mrsjones5

  Put me down for one "hated it".
• 

  exwitless

  I find it interesting, though not surprizing, that so many of us hated field service. It just makes me think back to when I was active in "da troof". I never voiced my disdain for service, and I always felt guilty feeling that way because I thought something must be wrong with my attitude. But looking back, I bet 99% of those that I went out in service with hated it as much as I did. And they probably felt guilty for hating it. It just shows you how much mind control the borg has over its collective.
• 

  RHodge6685

  I absolutely hated it, and went as little as possible. I mainly counted the time I did our family bible study, and a couple hours of informal witnessing (I had a boss that was constantly asking me questions about the JW's...but only out of an educational type of interest.) If I got forced into it by friends at the hall, I hoped no one would answer the door. And if they did, I just basically offered the magazine and left as soon as possible.

  I got dragged into parking lot witnessing once, and that was the worst. It was so embarrassing, and I hoped no one I knew outside the hall would see me. And I got turned down every time I got the nerve to approach someone. I did hotel and funeral home witnessing once, but the guy I was with was very talkative and handled it all, thank God.

  The highlight was stopping for coffee!

  It was so out of my nature to go to strange doors to talk to people. I am so glad I don't have to anymore! So glad! : )
• 

  chelsea

  It was terrible. I remember as a little girl i used to spend the time daydreaming about money making schemes... things i could make and sell, ways i could get rich. As i got older i just got more and more embarrassed. It was stupid and humiliating, trying to get people to read magazines that were so infantile. I had no conviction. Sometimes cute boys came to the door... the horror and the shame!!!!!