. Last time I resorted to doodling in my "note" book, but I got it taken away.
How old are you? and who did that?
Surviving Conventions.
by embalmed 20 Replies latest jw friends
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jgnat
I can relate to the note book. I created a cartoon character and two entire strips in one day. I was completely absorbed, and my honey was so proud. Good thing he wasn't looking too closely. I also don't go anywhere without my PDA. I have my bible on there, too, so who knows? I might be looking something up.
The trick for you, I think, is not to be sitting with anyone you know.
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Mary
Enbalmed: Here's a link I did last summer on how to survive the assemblies: Enjoy!
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=31016&site=3
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caligirl
Small system error seems to have done away with my reply -
I was lucky. By the time I was your age, I had not sat with my parents in more than a year, and had my own motel room for about the same amount of time. ( Had a part time job to be able to do that.) I perfected the art of daydreaming whil looking like the speaker had my full attention. Took token notes, just in case my parents asked for a "what was your favorite point" quote, which rarely happened. I also used to just keep reading in my bible even if they were done with a scripture because as boring as I found it, it was way better than whatever was being said.
Suggestions about developing fear/claustrophobia of crowds MIGHT work, but they make medication that works wonders on that so that might be only a short term solution.
For service, if I had to go out, I tried my best to get into the groups that liked to drive accross town to go to the most out of the way coffee break place, and barring that, I did the " I just want to listen to others presentation today and get some ideas" in order to escape at least having to spread the drivel myself. There were a few times that I just flat refused to get out of bed, but the storm from that blew over quickly in my house and does not sound like it would in yours, considering you get your notebooks confiscated still.
Getting yourself in trouble and getting your privileges taken away might work, but it sounds like you live in a pretty strict house, and it might backfire on you and simply make your home life even more difficult than it already is. When I was privately reproved, they did not want me to answer at the meetings, but they still wanted me out in service. I was also 18 when that happened.
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RubaDub
I remember attending that hell hole (Heb. sheol Gr. hades) known as Vet Stadium in Philadelphia that thankfully is being demolished after the baseball season. We would sit in the upper 700 level (yellow seats) to get away from the Astroturf field surface that was like an oven to be near.
If I can use the word tolerable, it was because we would fill up our gallon jugs with juices or Gatorade and spike it with a bottle or so of good Vodka. You would sweat alot but at least you would have a grin.
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Mulan
We had the meeting for service in our house, when I was a teenager, and I would get in the shower just before the meeting. My mother would absolutely freak out, because I had long hair, and it was before the time of blow dryers, so it was an easy out for me.
Are you male or female? Can you get a job? I know lots of JW kids who got jobs where they have to work weekends. They tell their parents they get their time in at school and at work. It works for some of them. Some places will hire 15 year old kids too. Coffee stands and restaurants (bussing).
As for conventions, you can get asthma attacks. Not hard to fake. I had a son who did that regularly every year, just before the long conventions. My mother had to keep him several years in a row, because he would get asthma just before the convention. Her convention was always the week after ours. Just start coughing and don't stop. Act like you can't get your breath. Our son's asthma was real, and brought on by anxiety, but it worked.
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Nosferatu
Enbalmed, I truly feel your pain. I was once in your shoes.
One thing that was mentioned earlier was perfecting the art of daydreaming. Think of something you're interested in, and how you could improve on it, make big plans for it, etc. It takes a bit, but daydreaming will help the conventions go a bit faster.
You might also want to try getting very little sleep the night before, and learn how to fall asleep sitting up. That will pass the time very quickly.
Here's another suggestion: I'm guessing you're parents are expecting you to get good grades in school, right? (What parent doesn't?) Fake having tons of homework on meeting nights. One thing that I did to make this work for me was to start keeping a journal. I would write for hours, and fill pages of it. This one works like a charm.
A part time job on the weekend is also a good idea. Just tell them that you feel the need to have some independance in your life, and you feel a PT job is the way to go.
However, you'll still have to throw in some time for meetings and field service, but you'll have much less to do. Hang in there, it's all worth it when you turn 18. However, that's when you'll be facing yet a different battle - dealing with your parent's reaction to your decision to leave the "truth"
Feel free to email me, and we'll chat about all the sneaky things we've done to get out of doing "God's Work" ;)
Edited by - Nosferatu on 20 January 2003 16:32:10
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SheilaM
I slept walked around and daydreamed
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embalmed
Thanks much for all your replies. I'm 15/F, btw. And the social phobia thing would be a nice idea, but considering I'm already on meds for that, it'd be weird if it all the suddenly stopped working. But I did find a few ideas I could use, including the PT job thing.