Convention Memories... (page 2)

lisavegas420

eheheh...he said doodie..

sorry that's what it made me think of..

thanks for the laugh..and for sharing.

lisa

keyser soze

Remember witnessing during the convention? The Friday afternoon would be set aside for witnessing in the host city’s territory.

That was the worst. My dad would always decide last minute that we were going out, after I had looked forward to having the afternoon off.

crapola

I always froze to death at the conventions, no matter where we sat or what I wore. Also HATED service on the Fri afternoon. Only did it a couple of times. yuck

I really feel for you guys who were brought up to endure such BS. That's awful, really. Thanks for posting. I always thought those assemblies to be extremely boring, but now that I 've got a child's view of it. Torture is what comes to mind.

70-Years-Of-Servatude

I could never get in line fast enough to get one of those dry chicken sandwiches, so I had to get a hogey on soggy bread or a gas producing bean burrito with warm shasta and a pudding.

Cinnamon (TOO)

This probably applies to the local convenstions more than the DC's but did anyone else meet their friends at the baptismal pool so they could stare at it's mezmorizing ripples of righteousness?

I miss the roast beef sandwhiches packed the little packets of bbq sauce. My mom never let me have that stuff except at the conventions.

And boys. But not the dorky ones who talked about StarTrek. No, no. I'm talking about the ones who had parents who were "weak in the truth". The ones who my mother would never let me marry. Sigh, rebels are hot.

darkl1ght3r

I grew up in the 80's and 90's so I missed all the 8 and 9 day conventions... jeez, I had it easy compared to you guys that had to endure that. The 3-day conventions are repetitive and boring as-is... I can't even even imagine what the hell they had to talk about for that long. And the sessions were longer too weren't they? Ugh... I get the dry heaves just thinking about it.

Oh Snap! The food! I forgot to talk about the food! I can still remember the flavors vividly, which is not necesserily a good thing. Yea, we were supposed to "present our bodies as a sacrifice, living and holy" by keeping them clean and undefiled... and then they feed us processed crap. Nothing like that mad-dash to the restrooms during the afternoon 'Public Address' due to an attack of the hershey squirts. I have to wonder how many annointed reached their 'heavenly reward' just a bit quicker due to the convention food. But I have to admit, I did like the hoagies and muff'n egg. The roast beef sandwich was terrible. More like flavorless roast beef jerky sandwich. But as soon as I was old enough I always volunteered to prepare the food, although they got rid of it just a couple years after I was old enough to do it. I volunteered to do pretty much anything that kept me out of my seat. Taking assignments wasn't as boring, I was still serving Jah, and I got brownie points from the Elders, and it made me feel important. The important people always had to get up alot.

My assignment at the last district convention I ever went too involved rotating shifts at the sound board. I was in charge of the music. I was also an atheist by then and right in the middle of planning my exit from the cult. I sat there and fantasized about 'accidentally' popping in a Nine Inch Nails CD or a Richard Dawkins audio book cued up to the part where he rants about what an awful character the God of the Bible is. I chickened out and stuck to the program. Even the convention audio program reflects their over-inflated sense of self-importance. I received a "Confidential" letter telling me of the importance of my assignment, along with detailed instructions on how to execute it, along with a copy of all the music and other audio portions for me to "study". I was strictly told not to copy the CDs and that I had to return them when finished, and not to even show them to anyone. I imagine the protocals would be similar if they had sent me nuclear launch codes. I was thinking "Really? I think we all have copies of the Kingdom Melodies at home." Ohhh right... but not in this order as determined by God himself. Ooooooh, ahhhhh *rolls eyes*. I half expected the letter to self-destruct 10 seconds after I read it. Only in the mind of a high-ranking JW lemming could the convention audio require as much secrecy as the CIA.

Ok, ok... I'm done. For now.

AudeSapere

I always froze to death at the conventions,

Man! I would have loved to trade seats with you!!! The only cold DC I attended was when a hurricane was blowing into NewYork City area and it was pouring rain. Otherwise, we had 90 degree temps with 95 percent humidity. Dodger Stadium in LosAngeles was not as humid, but often hotter and no shade. Every convention people had heat stroke.

I grew up in the 80's and 90's so I missed all the 8 and 9 day conventions... jeez, I had it easy compared to you guys that had to endure that.

My family started studying in Jan 1970. By that time the DCs were 5 days long, still had field service components, but the overall 'vibe' was completely different. MUCH effort was put in to food service. Meal breaks were longer and allowed for much more fellowshipping. Of course, the evening sessions made the day drag on a bit as we often didn't return home until after 11pm and then back up and out the door by 6am. Really tough with a young family. Maybe camping in tents would have been easier.

BackRoomBilly

Brother I felt your pain!!!

One time, I must have been eleven years old, I found a bunch of food tickets on the ground. I bought a truck load of chocolate puddings and smuggled them back to our seats. When my mom caught me eating them she quickly back handed me in the face. Well, she didn't notice the blood starting to trickle down. I let it run down my shirt for a good 10 minutes all over my new shirt and clip-on. When she saw it we left the convention. That truly was a blessing and the fact that my two brothers had to stay there with Grandma was icing on the cake. - Ryan

harekrishna

I remember the District Ass-emblies over at Dodger Stadium; getting up before 6am only to scramble for a decent seat where you won't suffer too much. I laugh when I would doze off during an especially boring talk only to be woken up each time the audience applauded. A few times they had it at the Inglewood Race Track. Was weird looking at the signs for betting and booze while walking around. One time they had it at the LA Forum where the Los Angeles Lakers used to play. That place was even worse; esp. if you sat up in the higher seats. Back in the seventies, I recall the assemblies starting on Thursday afternoons and ending on Sunday afternoons with everyone staggering out to their cars, dizzy from being in the sun all day. I hated the assemblies from start to finish!

Convention Memories...