When the meetings seem endless....

XPeterX

What do you do/Used to do?I go to the bathroom for more than 10 mins,then read something irrelevant or think of something irrelevant or go out for a while and so the meeting comes to an end.

JWoods

Why are you going to meetings in the first place? I thought you were NOT a JW...

yknot

Hold & play with a baby

Take some kids outside

Bathroom breaks similar to yours......

Recently I have been sneaking in audio books via MP3........earbuds hide well behind hair or big earings......

Last night I feel asleep in the library.

Iphones aren't available yet in my area.....but as soon as they are, I will be surfing between the pages of the WT!

WTWizard

Basically I would veg out until it ends. If it ran way late, I would simply show them my watch, and that it was way past time for it to wind down. Of course, these days I simply don't go at all.

Leolaia

I used to start chatting with my friend via notes. Often about how boring it is, or about the speaker, or a particular elder, or people in the cong we know. Chit chat. Via paper.

Tristram

Whaddya mean "when"? Aren't they all?

Doodle, make shopping or to-do lists, go out to the car to catch up on sports scores, couple of bathroom breaks. Sometimes I'll read the bible.

shamus100

I became an expert doodler.

My songbook was an utter mess.

Long bathroom breaks, water-cooler breaks, trips to my car, stood in the back to keep from falling asleep. (Attendants always wanted me to sit and I would tell them I'm trying not to fall asleep. If they pushed the issue, I would sit down, fall asleep and then leave the meeting early.)

I developed BAD listening habits while sitting in my chair at the hall.

My mind would wander all over the place but I would look up all scriptures and usually had my eyes glued on the speaker so I often got complimented on my attentiveness. But I really was counting buttons on the suit, counting folds in the curtains behind the speaker, counting letters in the text, practicing 'virtual typing' of the scriptures we read, spelling out the text in sign language. I also wrote shopping and to-do lists, read whole chapters of the bible.

I learned to 'space-out' while looking attentive.

This bad habit still creeps up during important business meetings. I now make it a habit to take notes to help me stay connected during meetings. Some think I do it because I'm forgetful or critical or a kiss-up. I'm really just trying to keep my mind on the speaker.

-Aude.

The Finger

When I was young I used to count the bricks in the wall and the ceiling tiles then try getting to the bottom of the watchtower page through the type without touching any type. If that failed then it was make my older brother laugh which was quite easy but usually resulted in me being in some serious trouble with my father.

In my teens it was fantasizing about the gorgeous young sisters in the congregation. After I was baptized and used to open the service meeting, say pray read the watchtower ect. i remember thinking "God! I'm going to have to be an elder one day" I really didn't want to be.

As an adult I continually found fault with the hypocrisy of the meetings and would often end up outside or sitting in the car. This went on for years until I found a shaft of light.