Have you ever faked a service report?

by Orgull 78 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  erandir

  Fake reports are far more common than most people realize.

  I wonder just what the real total time put into service is in the annual world report? How many billion do they report, but in actuality it's off by a factor of ten or more?

  Open Mind mentioned something about avoiding the pre-CO shepherding call? My then book-study conductor called as my meeting attendance and service time was beginning to fall. He tried to set up a call with the CO during the CO's visit. I told him no, it wouldn't be a good idea. This guy is a real Type A in-your-face intimidator. He just didn't know how to deal with someone flat out telling him no. I didn't have any fallout from that, either. I recommend just telling them No. And you don't have to give any reasons, either.

  The other thing with that is that I knew that he was just trying to get in the shepherding call that he was supposed to have done a long time before that but procrastinated until the last minute. Elders who conduct book studies are supposed to call on the people in their studies once or twice a year (I forget), but the all-too-common story is that they put it off till the week before the CO comes in. So much for caring for their "flock."
• 

  SnakesInTheTower

  welcome helecopta!

  I wonder how many congregation secretaries are wise to this practice.

  I was a secretary and I sure as heck was aware of it. I am a numbers person and can detect patterns easily. I always gave the older ones an hour of time and a RV...shame they had to become "irregular" or "inactive" just because they got too old to go door knocking (reduced to 15 min increments when that arrangement came into play). I figured their still being alive and claiming to be a JW was witnessing enough for an 86 year old. I gave them extra credit.

  And toward the end as secretary, I used to make up numbers for some publishers who "forgot" to turn in time...I sure as heck wasnt calling their book study overseers to have them call.....and I started fudging the elders and MS's and their families numbers (downward,sometimes upward just for grins) for the CO visit....the congo average was already below 7, why not knock a few decimal places off. Usually I would just change a digit so if anyone asks, I could just say, "oh, I must have looked at the slip wrong"....

  And hell yes I turn in phantom time all the time now. 2-3 hours a month. (Ironically, and I have posted this before, I was accused of phantom time way back when I was pioneering, and i was actually turning in LESS time than I actually put in)...go figure.

  SnakesInTheTower (of the "knocking on doors, just not for the Borg" Sheep Class)
• 

  Save My Soul

  I have not gone out in over 10 years door-ta-door, yet I am active.

  It is NOT a bible command to turn in your time. While a pioneer, many would eat breakfast and count the time. It has no meaning. We do NOT earn our salvation.
• 

  ohiocowboy

  One of the years that I Reg. Pioneered, was when the requirement was still 90 hours/month. I worked with pioneer Sisters who would write letters for hours, start at laundromats at 5:30-6 in the morning, and count all time until it was time to meet for service, yet STUPIDLY, I was a stickler on my hours, trying to honestly report the time I actually spent in service, and ended up falling short by 6 hours for the year one year. That 6 freaking hours got me a good talking to by the Elders that maybe I wasn't serious about my Pioneering, and whether I should continue the following year etc. It would have been easy for me to just report the hours and make it seem like I made all of my time. If I would have lied, all would have been well, and I wouldn't have been made to feel like a turd on the bottom of the Elder's shoes.
• 

  collegegirl21

  I don't think there's ever been a service report that I've been honest on, especially the last few years...
• 

  PinTail

  Yup cause I always thought it was stupid, and un-Christian to demand to have proof, of the time Christians spend preaching, as if Jehovah can not count each and ever second, and good intention of the heart.
• 

  wearewhoweare

  I would be surprised if u (Musicman) ever went out in service...It's a return visit not revisit!!!!
• 

  wearewhoweare

  Excuse me!!!!! They force u ....I don't think so....they usually encourage u to go service, but I'm sure there may be some individuals that may intimidate u. It depends on their personality and remember we are all imperfect. Also too we were not put on earth to serve man, but God...
• 

  WTWizard

  My favorite way to cheat on service was to do dummy service. I would put in the time and accurately report that time. However, I aimed to make that time accomplish as little as possible and still count it.

  Some ways of doing this: Once I went to a bookstore with the group. The object was to place tracts with other customers. I stayed away from other customers and instead browsed the books. I made one return visit on the store about 3 years later, but it was to buy one of the books I browsed through. I placed zilch that day.

  Several times, I would find myself doing hospital work (isn't it wonderful how the Witlesses catch people in the hospital where they have no choice but to be home?). I was supposed to place tracts, and I never succeeded in placing anything. How this happened: I point-blank refused to place anything or discuss religion with other men, and the ladies always went the other way so I never got a chance to place anything with them. Result: Zero placements.

  I also had fun while doing calls. Especially if it was raining, I would like to sit in the car and fog up the windows. And they would have to waste time clearing them up. Or, if it was cold, I would milk the warm-up break and even let the heat out of the car so it would take them longer to warm up. And I would let them pass a street if I knew where it was, just so they could waste time finding it. I never told them that they were about to pass it until they finally found the house. My favorite: Having a long drive across town, letting them pass the street several times when I knew where it was, and then the person wasn't even home. I still counted the time.

  The ultimate was the Walk. When no one showed up (sometimes I even started it by going when there wasn't even a service scheduled), I would just walk back with magazines out in a half=hearted effort to let others see them. I would take a route where I knew no one would be around. Obviously, I never placed anything that way (and I didn't want to). But I still counted it as an hour of service. And I didn't give a $@#% that they didn't like it.
• 

  Musicman

  Lol, wearewhoweare, I don't think that I went out door-to-door for a long time, but I would accompany friends and family on bible studies regularly. Is it a return visit? I'm not too familiar with the English terms, since I was mainly a Spanish congregation member. That column on the slip in Spanish is "Revisitas", so I just figured it was Revisits in English. Oops!

  Musicman