by xelder 38 Replies latest jw experiences
When the then wife and i were reg pioneering, we were sooo consciencious!
One day it was raining so hard that it would have been no surprise to have seen Noahs ark float by and we walked all day in that downpour. The few people that we found home thought we were nuts and so we felt it was giving a good witness that the work was so important that we would do that.
I want to go back in time and slap myself on the back of the head!
oz
Good to hear. Seems like lots of JWs have finally understood that the door-to-door work is colossally ineffective. The point, really, is to display your in-group credentials by showing up. So, all these time-wasting activities are really more efficient activities: literally everyone is made better off with JWs going to Starbucks instead of knocking on doors.
First, I will say that field circus itself is a waste of time. You go out, waste all day working streets, and most of the people are not at home. You work the territory to death only to find not even one reduction in the amount left for the next person. Instead, the whole territory gets put back in play for the next person.
What I have seen for time wasters in this time waster are plenty. People driving as slow as 15 km/h (the speed limit is around 50--30 MPH). And as if that wasn't enough, they walk slower than 2 km/h and waste plenty of time warming up in the car. They also drive right past houses that they should know where they are. (And I like to see how long it takes for them to find them.)
Getting to the territory is another matter. I have seen plenty of times when someone shows up more than 15 minutes late, and struggles to get in. And I have seen people call up to be picked up at 9:30, and we have to waste another 20 minutes or more while they are still getting ready (field circus was supposed to be at 9). Confusion is rampant when people are headed out--no one seems to know who they are supposed to be with. Which wastes even more time.
For a group of people who have decided that we will never again take a part in their "ministry", we are sure happy to find fault with those who still do it!
But I guess there is justification because we know what it is all supposed to be about . We have been there, done it, and pulled the same tricks in the past to fill up time.
I do know one or two who complain about the disorganisation of the territory assignment and that they do not get the chance to speak to enough people - but I know that they are a minority.. It is normally a social meet up for dubs who talk among themselves and meet people as a secondary part of it. it is one thing to get half the congo Aux.Pioneering at 30 hours a month, but do they really achieve much?
If the G B were serious, they would take the emphasis away from hours and put the emphasis on quality. What firm would honour a field rep who was out there 24/7 but achieved sod all?
Driving back and forth across town, making return visits, when they could easily be grouped together to save time.
But saving time isn't the point, is it?
Today I saw 2 young sisters from my ex-congo in field service. My God, they were walking heads down and slow, like they were in a funeral procession. I was tempted to shout: "Heads up and f...ing smile, you are in the service of Jehovah, not at the cemetery!". A year ago, when I was still a dub, we were happier when we went in field circus. I think some of the young people in my ex-congo envy me for having the guts to just turn my back and leave.
Those angels are just trying to keep the economy going.
They cannot allow the economy to crash entirely and the system crumble into ruins as IT IS NOT YET TIME
DOC
I guess you have all heard about the "pioneer walk"... or should it be the "pioneer crawl"... the common joke, but based on the truth, that pioneers walk around very slowly "to get their hours in"...........
I never found it that funny...... I kept thinking, if we have to give up college/university, good jobs, nice car, houses (to live in a room), for the sake of the ministry, then it must be something so important, something to do well, give all our effort...... it bothered me that we would just waste time, looking for ways to avoid doing ministry while on the ministry....... basically, treated it like a joke, as if it wasn't important, so if it was so I would be asking myself, why do my parents and elders think I should mess about like this, like some 'school dropout' instead of getting a career?!?! That's what annoyed me about the time-wasting attitude, what made me work hard on the ministry and get 'self-righteous' with those that didn't; but deep down, it seemed all a bit pointless, just pathetic.
ekruks
I totally agree with you. It used to frustrate me so much the way it seemed everyone else treated the ministry. If it really did mean peoples lives then why were we not running to everyone's door urging them begging them to please join us.
I pioneered in a hall that had ten pioneers in it. They would do everything in their power to not go door to door. It was mostly a country hall so we did a lot of driving but there were some small towns here and there and yet they still drove door to door. I remember one time there was this trailer park where the homes were RIGHT NEXT to each other and yet the car group wanted to drive to each home. I was so upset I got out and took one side by myself. Finished in half the time it took the car to do their side. People who opened the door for me kept looking at the other side of the street like what the heck is that car doing letting two people out waiting until they got back in and then driving to the next house. It was so distracting that I could get no where with my side of the street as we looked like idiots.
I just could not get it, these pioneers were always on the assembly's still are bragging about how they are giving their lives to Jehovah, yad, yad. But they are just truly wasting their time.
I still do not understand their thinking.
LITS
I always hated when they answered the door. "Not interested" was my favorite thing to hear. And I always wanted to have most of the people not home, and for it to take as long as possible. Even when I wasn't cold or tired, I still enjoyed the waste of time when everyone else was warming up--often I would let the heat out of the car so they would still be cold and waste more time.
Not to mention, that wonderful rap music that one house would sometimes have blasting. Once or twice a year, we would work a block with someone blasting rap music that could be heard for the whole block. One time they had Ja Rule's Pain Is Love CD going--repeating a few tracks the whole time we were in that block. I think I enjoyed that more than the field circus--and I have that album. I think I was the only one in the car group to not get a headache on that music. And, those times I opened the door only to have the TV playing The Price is Right. I would rather be watching the show on TV than paying attention to the lecture.
