PO's were not listening to the special day program. Why I wonder?

by life is to short 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  life is to short

  Please do not judge me for going last weekend to the one day that my husband had.

  I truly did not mean to even attend but at the last minute I thought if my husband goes in by himself he never sees any of the stupid points they bring out, so I dressed in one of my not so meeting skirts and a top that was very comfortable and thought I would go to Starbuks when it got too much for me to handle. I lasted about 45 minutes.

  First we got there late, my fault and my husband went to use the bathroom before we found seats so I sat back and watched.

  There the table that they always have in he hallway and one lone PO sitting at it by himself manning it. My husband came out and we found seats. By this time they had a couple on the stage who are in their mid 20's they brought their baby out with them who was under a year old. I had never seen that done before I think they did it for the dramatic effect. I have known the parents of the husband of this couple forever and the parents are the worst money managers you ever want to see. They have made really good money and just thrown it all away, it appears the apple has not fallen far from the tree and the son who was on the stage was going on and on about how he lost his job and his field of work shut down and they were so broke that they lost their cars and it finally got down to the point that they had no food in the home. Now here they are on the stage with their little baby and they had no food. The brother interviewing them said dramatically "YOU HAD NO FOOD!" "WHAT DID YOU DO?" The father said they prayed and went out in service and when they came home there was a box of food on their porch. Someone else also gave them a car.
  I was sitting there steaming because though I was not sure about this son on the stage but I know his father would only buy new cars and trucks. I myself have never bought a new car in my life but have bought used with cash. The father would buy new cars and trucks get them repoed and then do it all over again when his credit would allow him.

  Anyway the whole thing was this young couple just always went out in service when they ran out of money and needed help and Jehovah the Santa Claus He is would give them whatever they needed because they put him first in their lives.

  Hell Jehovah did not even give me a ride to the meetings when I was in my late teens with no car unless I had the money to chip in for gas but apparently Jehovaqh has changed his ways now.

  Then the CO came out and went on about field service and how we need to give special care to our Bible studies to never stumble them I was ready to explode at this point and had to get out of there.

  So this is the whole point of my post when I left I had to walk by the table with the one lone PO sitting by himself who by the way is one of the biggest jerks you ever want to meet but now this PO was joined by at least three other PO's from other halls. One was the PO from my hall who makes the first jerk PO look like a saint. There is no sound out there so they are not hearing any of the new light or getting any of the Spiritual food being feed. They all looked bored out of their minds, unless they were talking to each other and laughing.

  I was thinking if I was visiting for the first time I would have thought it was so bazaar to see. These men are all in their late 50's to early 70's just sitting there doing nothing. Why? Why are they out in the hallway at a table not listening?

  Also I know that the PO is now the COBE but it bugs me to use the new light to call them a COBE as it is just too stupid!

  LITS
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  life is to short

  Also I fogot to add my husband only stayed for half the day as he too could see the stupidness of it, but only because I pointed it out. So my going did have the effect I wanted it too.

  LITS
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  Broken Promises

  What did your husband see that convinced him that it was "stupid" too?
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  wobble

  LITS, well done for going with your husband, you sowed some seeds in his mind no doubt, seeds that will grow, but would not have been lodged there if you had not gone.

  I think those p.O's are usually in charge of something, say Attendants or the like, and stay in the hallway to be available. it does mean as you say that they could easily miss some "noo lite", but I found that I never paid real attention when I was sitting in the main hall.

  Some use it as an excuse to get out of sitting in the main hall, I can't blame them, a numb bum means anumb brain, I suppose their thinking is: "Anything important will come out in a WT, or at the Elders meeting, or my wife, who is taking copious notes, will tell me"
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  OnTheWayOut

  "YOU HAD NO FOOD!" "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

  LITS, you do know that experiences are exaggerated, don'tcha? Even if it had actually gotten to that point with these folks, I imagine that "NO FOOD" meant the refridgerator was empty and that they would have to use credit to go shopping later. Then they would have to borrow from his parents if things didn't work out. It may have been so exaggerated that they left off that he applied for unemployment or had to cash in a savings bond or something like that.

  To be fair to JW's, I lost my car to a tree falling on it during a hurricane, and some JW's I have never met donated a car to anyone who needed it. I drove that car for about 4 years. It wasn't new, but the AC worked. Good people can do good things, it's just a shame they think Santa Johoho will provide.

  There is no sound out there so they are not hearing any of the new light or getting any of the Spiritual food being feed. They all looked bored out of their minds, unless they were talking to each other and laughing.

  Oh, the privileges of being an elder. We took all the "jobs" at assemblies that allowed us to get out of our seats and miss part of the program because it was boring as hell. I could imagine the PO's (it is weird and awkward to even try to call them COBE's) were laughing and telling stories and only stopped when you (or anyone) walked past. They may have had some pretense of an urgent matter to discuss in case a C.O. asked what they were doing.
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  fokyc

  when they came home there was a box of food on their porch.

  This story has been related so many times before, even back in the 60's; it cannot be true!

  Why they have to tell so many lies is beyond me.
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  life is to short

  BP

  The points I brought out were everything that was being said. My husband would not have remembered that the young couple were the kids of the parents because the last time he saw the son he was ten and my husband forgets kids grow up like that. You know how years pass by and the older we get the harder it is to realize that the child who was ten is now 25 years old.

  Also the CO's talk was just so stupid but if I had not brought it out to him I truly do not think he would have gotten it. The CO has been a real jerk to me about the child molesters in the hall and has not cared that he stumbled me but he cares about Bible studies?

  Everyone else thanks for your kind words and OTWO I know you are right that they exaggereate the experiences and I am sure they did it this time also, plus the husband has a ton of family that would not let them.

  LITS
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  OnTheWayOut

  The box of food story has been told as long as boxes of food have existed.

  Is it possible that they want to keep reminding the members to be generous on their own because WTS isn't going to feed anyone?
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  manthedan

  Yes exaggerate is right! I once had a part on "violent video games" a couple years ago at a District, it was to be about how a part at a previous assembly or convention made me want to give up violent video games. When my PO came to my house to talk about the part with me, he first read the part and asked me if my circumstances filled the part. I told him not really because I never really played video games while a JW. He then told me it didn't have to be right on but try and fit other circumstances or things I was doing into the part. Well as a result I made up some BS story, mostly made up of half-truths, and got a huge applause at the District. People came up to me so happy and thrilled..........if only they really knew :)
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  No Room For George

  the son who was on the stage was going on and on about how he lost his job and his field of work shut down and they were so broke that they lost their cars and it finally got down to the point that they had no food in the home. Now here they are on the stage with their little baby and they had no food. The brother interviewing them said dramatically "YOU HAD NO FOOD!" "WHAT DID YOU DO?" The father said they prayed and went out in service and when they came home there was a box of food on their porch. Someone else also gave them a car.

  Dang, where you at my assembly?!?!? Seriously though, the first interview was a young couple where the husband lost his job, and his wife then lost her job. The husband recieved some promising leads that he purposely didn't follow up on because he and his wife decided while being laid off that they wanted to Regular Pioneer. I just sat there shaking my head in my heart. I don't know this couple, or their family as our circuit was recently shuffled, and there was quite a few unfamiliar faces at this assembly. I think examples like them are insulting and disrespectful to those in the audience who are really struggling financially. There's been times I've passed up on a couple good jobs because they would have interferred with the book study as it was then, and also the midweek meeting. Imagine that, to pass over on full time employment simply because it would cause you to miss 3 hours of regurgitated Service Meetings and the so-so very-very important Tuesday night Book Study which was so important that it was eliminated a year after a year of emphasis on its importance. Ridiculous and insulting.

  I know what you mean about brothers taking advantage of their positions so as to give a good excuse as to why they're not in the auditorium listening to the program. I'm guilty of this myself at assemblies and even when scheduled to sit in the lobby during meetings at the Kingdom Hall. I wonder if a man's mind is more prone to wander than a woman's? There was a couple brothers that I know who were sitting near to me at this most recent assembly, and both of them were passing out in the first half. I was pretty rested, plus I take Paxil in the morning which I've found really keeps me alert throughout the day. I could have two hours of sleep the night before, and take a Paxil in the morning, and I'm good for most of the day. At the same time, I'm easily bored at meetings, assemblies, and conventions. Its the same program every year, and I make it a point to have an assignment at any convention or assembly. Anything to give me an excuse to not have to sit in there all day, with the exception of being an attendant having to monitor a particular section in the auditorium. That's for the birds, I'll pass.