Counting Time?

sweet pea

Reading through the posts it seems to be that many of you put in field service reports that are/were inaccurate for one reason or the other.

What were/are your reasons?

What ways did/do you count your time?

Did/do you feel guilty about inaccurate reporting?

What do you think are the implications of all the 'fudging'? (as in what percentage of time spent 'in the ministry' is actually time spent preaching?)

IMHO, taking into account all the time taken from handing out a 'tract' to getting back in your car, 'not at homes' and 'fake reports', it's probably something like 10 percent!

Awakened07

My fading process started very slowly, so at first, when I just didn't go to all the meetings and didn't spend much time in field service, I would add an hour or two and maybe a couple of magazines extra to the report. I did it because I was afraid of what would be the consequence if I became totally "non-productive". Meetings with elders and leering looks from other members didn't really appeal to me(!). It did give me a feeling of guilt, because I did believe in Jehovah at the time. I guess I rationalized it by telling myself I didn't really believe it was right to ask people to report everything they did, how unfair it could be etc. So although it made me feel a little guilty because of the dishonesty involved, I thought Jehovah would understand. Well - I think that's how I reasoned, it's been a while.

Shepherd Book

I think 10% sounds very conservative. I think the real amount of 'fudged' time is over 25%. Even when I was pioneering, I always felt like I and the other pioneers were cheating a bit. We would stop to get gas, or run in to a convenience store to buy beverages and, to my knowledge, no one stopped their time for those things. After a while I realized that since it was acceptable to count time while sitting in a car for a half hour while someone in the car group was at a door, then it would also be okay to keep my time going in other non-preaching ways. When we'd stop for break, I'd bring in a notepad and continue writing a letter. During the half hour we'd spend on break, I'd maybe write one sentence (one word every few minutes), but my conscience told me this was okay.

Another of my favorite maneuvers was to drop a letter in my mailbox when leaving for the meeting for service to start my time, then keeping it going by conducting the meeting for service (since their were always non-baptized people in the audience). By the time I knocked on my frist door, I already had 45+ minutes logged.

One cold morning, one pioneer and I took turns writing letters while the other person slept on the couch. I felt this was okay since it was no different than sleeping in a car while someone was at the door.

Later, when I was just a publisher, I was very liberal with my time. If a co-worker asked what I did over the weekend, I would say: "I went to a meeting and learned about the bible", and then I would count 15 minutes for that (and a return visit). To keep my magazine placements up, I would often bring two or more magazines to the bus stop and surreptitiously leave them on the bench right before I boarded the bus. Antoher time, some Mormons visited our Kingdom Hall and since I was the literature servant, an elder asked me to grab some brochures to give them. I gave each of them two brochures (there were 8 of them) and subsequently counted 16 brochure placements, which I spread out over the following six months. Another favorite of mine was to drop two or three dozen magazines in the public library's book drop on the way home from service, thereby "keeping my time going" and placing enough magazine to look respectable for the month.

I never felt guilty for any of this as I felt I had reasonable explanations ('excuses') for all of it. The thing I felt bad about was when I started to slip below the congregation average. The first time this happened, I had only 8 hours for the month, so I 'borrowed' 2 hours from the following month. I reasoned with myself that this was okay since it was not much different than when we were told to carry over any 1/2 hour increments (as time was to be reported only in whole numbers). But then the next month I didn't make the average again, so I had to borrow even more, and so on and so on... After five years or so of that, I probably got 'in debt' by 50 hours. But I didn't feel guilty about that, either, becuase, by that time, I felt time counting was against scriptural guidelines.

WTWizard

I never actually reported time that I didn't spend. However, I did frequently dog it while I was on the clock. I often sat in the car to fog up the windows or while they were warming up (so I could let the heat out of the car and make it take longer to warm up). Plus I found this a good way to walk slowly (I highly disrecommend this if you are in top fitness and wish to stay that way, because it is quite difficult to resume a brisk walking pace after the Pioneer Walk).

Later, I would do "dummy service". I would take a walk, trying to not place anything or find anyone. I would at first do it on the way back from the Kingdumb Hell if no one showed up. Then I planned it, taking a route where I knew no one was going to be (like down a hill on a busy highway with no businesses along the way), counting an hour of service. Ultimately I just quit altogether (I bet the lead hounder, who would like nothing more than to recapture me, wonders where I have been in the past two years, and I would like to make that fifty years).

Serg

Well I just put a couple of hours, its not like anyone is going to say anything to me anyways. They just care about not having to many inactives showing for when the CO comes to visit. Its all about CYA to them.

tijkmo

subsequently counted 16 brochure placements, which I spread out over the following six months

ha - i can so relate.

i had a friend who would sit in the car if it was raining saying ' well i was available'

of course i never did that..

BluesBrother

Another favorite of mine was to drop two or three dozen magazines in the public library's book drop on the way home from service

Would it count if you dropped them in the re cycling bin? Well, you never know, somebody could fish it out and read it.......

I was not a Pioneer so I never had to resort to such measures, but some things I can relate to - definately.

It is the result of the system. If workers are judged according to the time spent , they will find ways of getting around the system - just like in any business the clever ones use the system to their advantage.

Shepherd Book

No, I never threw any in the trash or recycle bin. I wouldn't have felt right counting them.

When an elder stopped by and handed me about 50 magazines (the result of not showing up at a meeting for months), I put about half of them in a plastic bag and put them in between the walls of sheetrock I was putting up in my basement. Who knows, someone might tear down the wall one day and find some life-saving information. The other half I 'place' with my pet lovebirds. The tear them to shreds - I call them nature's paper shredders. (My two lovebirds are lesbians, so they are particularly angered at the Society's stance on alternative life-styles.)

Frequent_Fader_Miles

I hated going out for field service, so a couple months before I made my break for it I just decided to put in a couple "token" items on my field service slip to keep the elders off my back. The service "Overbeer" was constantly hounding me about being a low-hour publisher and lying on that stupid slip stopped him in his tracks. At first I would feel badly about it, but after a while it was okay. I think I probably lied on my FS slip for over a year!

Counting Time?

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