Phoney Baloney

by Perfection Seeker 11 Replies latest jw experiences

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  Perfection Seeker

  One of my BIGGEST pet peeves of being a witness was when the overseer would come visit, and EVERYONE was SOOO nice, sweet to everyone, no clicks, they'd arrive early, stay after & talk, everyone would raise their hands, give "heartfelt" answers, looked nice, sang loud, just the model congregation. Yet, when the overseer WASNT there, people would come late, leave early, not be nice to everyone, blah blah. I guess to me- if they knew what they "SHOULD" be doing, why not do it all the time? I asked an elder this once- I said I almost didn't want to come during an overseers visit, cause it was so phoney- I didn't recognize anyone. He said- well, when you have company at your house- don't you set the best dishes, have excellent food, dress nice- kind of "do up" for company? Thats what we do with the CO comes.

  I can handle alot- but not double standards & hypocrisy.

  Anyone with similar "phoney baloney" stories?
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  funkyderek

  Sounds familiar. I remember there was a rule that the hall was supposed to be open 20 minutes before the meeting, but it rarely was except when the CO was there, when everyone would turn up 30 mins early. Of course, we thought it was just our congregation. Didn't everybody?!
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  Perfection Seeker

  How about the memorial? When all the newbies & interested people are there? Same thing as overseers visit- people showing up early- putting on quite the show. What a crock! My mother is queen bee of it all. I did get talked into going to the memorial this year- and I saw it all over again- it was really pathetic! Same thing with conventions- everyone smiling, all happy, shaking hands- blah blah blah. Real hard to see when you're like 15- critical anyway- then see through everyone. Did I say what a crock yet? :-)
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  FriendlyFellaAL

  We never had trouble getting people there at least twenty minutes before the meeting. Usually, there was almost a full house 45 minutes to an hour beforehand. In retrospect, I suppose that the people at my hall had no life outside of being a Witness.

  Brian
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  Gopher

  Seeker,

  You have identified another yukky way in which Jehovah's Witnesses are UNITED !! It was the same way in every congregation I attended. Where was all this dignity/ all these manners, AFTER the special occasion was done??
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  Valis

  It gets awfully expensive for the pack to keep thier sheep costumes dry cleaned you know......on and off on and off ....The Three Faces of Adam & Eve perhaps...same way in the congos I attended, but one good thing was half of them wouldn't give you the time of day outside the hall, so I didn't have to deal w/them....

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
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  2SYN

  Well Witnesses have many double standards in their lives, and this is one of the more striking ones. It was just like that in my old Halls too! Brings back some disturbing memories.
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  bad_associashun

  PS- your post rings SO true- I remember the week of COs visit many arriving early, all smiley-smiley greetings to every single person there, well thought out prepared wt answers, only 'upbuilding' conversations in the car groups, longer & looser skirts and no sleeveless dresses- no really high, sexy heels [no red toenail polish either]- you don't want to stand out as a worldly person when the CO is giving a talk on dressing like a humble, modest servant of Jah

  - the next week all was back to normal

  why could they not see their own hypocrisy in it??
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  LB

  At my old hall I enjoyed visiting before meetings. The MS's and elders wouldn't show up until just a few minutes before the meeting started. Unless the CO was in town. Then they would all be 1/2 hour early.

  Yep, it's all pretty phoney.
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  simplesally

  Don't forget...... all the brothers got their haircut just before: CO visit, Memorial and the DC.