by JH 29 Replies latest jw friends
When I joined the JW's many years ago, I couldn't get over how many were working in the cleaning business. I know this permitted them to go to the meetings, out in the field service, and work without any conflict.
Where did this trend start? Is it like this world wide? Do most witnesses still work in the cleaning business today or has things changed? I haven't been to KH's in many years.
Round our way gardening is the big thing. A company run by JWs and employing JWs ... it should only be a few years before the financial scandals start coming out.
My husband & I were regular Pioneers, & we cleaned banks for a living.. This is mostly a trend w/ JW's because I think that most of them do not have the education to get a real job. Also, with many pioneering & such, it frees up their time to "preach the good news". This really ate me up because I never got the education I wanted until later when I left the JW's. Most of the people I knew either cleaned houses, banks, windows, carpets, etc.... I also knew a Pioneer couple who cleaned houses & went on welfare----SAD! ----kristine
It is still common. I suppose it has to do with the lack of an education.
JH,
It's a relatively easy business to start: low start-up cost, low overhead, no real training or experience necessary. And, of course, being self-employed allows JWs to devote more time to "Kingdumb interests."
I started a window cleaning business right out of high school so I could begin pioneering. I just left the JWs last year and I still have it. Of course, I don't really like it and am currently going to college. All the same, it actually does pay rather handsomely if you have good salesmanship and people like you. I regularly make over forty dollars an hour doing it, and probably will have the business till I start my new career in a couple years.
Bradley
PS -- So knock off the window-washer jokes, people! Hehe...just kidding :)
Reading the Watchtower and the Awake being as good as a college education and all what do you expect.
End of year exam questions from the Awake
1) Describe the correct way to hold a toilet brush (50 marks)
2) A Broom is for what? (10 marks)
3) Which end of a mop do you hold? (20 Marks)
4) Disinfectant is
a) A type of salad dressing
b) A cleaning Fluid
c) A Fire Starter (20 Marks)
Because it is easy for them to 'Saty clear of the world' and have their own cleaning business.
Besides, it is hard to get a job when you have no acedemic qualifications, as the Watchtower has stripped them from you. Some Witnesses just can't see the woods for the trees.
I wonder if this is the same here in Oz? Do people who want flexible hours, low educational requirements and self-employment go into cleaning as a first choice, or is the preference for something more "Ocker", like a lawn-mowing business? Ozzie? Pris? Hippi?
I note that the Bulli congregation has a few engaged in building/handyman work, but since I wouldn't "know" more than 10 people from there, I'd be a fool to extrapolate that figure to generalise for the whole cong.
Logunsrun: Forty bucks an hour? Are you serious? Geez, I may have to re-think this Controller for a real estate syndicator thing. Sorry, couldn't help myself, but you have a point, there is no shame in honest hard work. The sad part of it is the so many dubs get pushed into menial labor because they've been discouraged from reaching for anything higher. But, hey, they'll be in the New System (TM) any day now.
That is so sad. Sometimes I drive past the old neighborhood where I used to live. Most of the families in the cong did some type of cleaning job. They still live in the same neighborhood. My parents also live in the same neighborhood. They don't have any other goals in life. The neighborhood hasn't improved in the last 15 years. It's filled with people who are uneducated, low income or one step away from being on welfare. The best thing that happened to me was leaving.
