I agee with White dove, the detailed Malawi torture stories were too much for children to hear. But they did get your attention. I remember them telling about a Sister who had her newborn baby snatched out of her arms and swung by the feet, head first into a tree because she wouldn't buy a political card. I just knew this was going to happen to my baby sister and it would be because I wouldn't renounce Jehovah or some such nonsense.
Looking back, I realize I developed certain coping mechanisims. To be able to handle the boredom and fearful armegeddon talk, I developed an ability to shut my mind off at will and take myself elsewhere as soon as I heard certain key words or phrases. "Certainly Brothers....This would behoooove us....buy out the oppertune time... a study was started...truly a spiritual paradise....the tested quality of our faith...pay more than the usual attention etc." Survival was dependant on ones ability to look like you were listening while counting ceiling tiles and or the little holes in the ceiling tiles, multiplying and dividing them by the numbers 144,000 or 607. I concentrated better while drawing huge sideburns, mustaches and platform shoes on the men in the Watchtower or giant hair-do's and beauty marks on the women. I'd find myself compulsively looking ahead in the Watchtower or the assembly program as if I was interested when really I wanted to see how many paragraphs or talks were left until the intermission. During the 8 day assemblies, I'd be almost suicidal by 6:00 PM of the first day when I'd realize there were 3 hours and 7 more days of sitting in the blazing sun on bleachers left. Sometimes we used to mark down how many times you heard them say Jesus or Jehovah but that only lasted about 15 minutes. I'd feel guilty and promise myself to pay more attention at the next talk but I could only hold out for a few scriptures before I started searching the crowd for friends or weird people or even wondering what it would be like to swing by a trapeze from the stadium ceiling. It was always an extra bonus when a bird would have flown inside so all the kids could watch it swoop around free...it looked so wonderful. Sometimes I'd perk up during the experiences because for one thing, it would be a break from the monotone echoing voice of the speaker and because there would be the hope that they'd flub their lines or say something I could relate to. One time they were talking about a brother in some far flung country that was wheelchair bound but was praying that Jehovah would make it possible for him to pioneer. I was expecting that he would somehow by some miracle, end up being able to walk. Instead, his prayers were answered when he woke up one morning to find a brand new set of tires on his wheelchair. I couldn't believe it...new tires !
We'd be so happy when they'd show slides or a movie instead of a talk on Sunday. Even this movie was a welcome change http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzfU
The funny thing was, I did hear what they were saying and could even answer the questions we got during the society sanctioned pop quiz we'd get on the way home.
