How much time and money did we waste traveling to meetings alone?

by longgone 16 Replies latest jw experiences

  • longgone
    longgone

    Quick answer: Way too much!

    This is something that really gets to me, all the way back to my childhood. Twenty minutes each way, three times a week. Month after month. Year after year. Wow. Plus the wear on the vehicle. That money could have gone toward food and clothes which we were already short of. 😒

    Then for me as an adult it was cut back to about fifteen minutes, but that went on for decades! At even a nickel for every mile, it would still add up, though I'm not doing the math.

    As for time wasted, you can't put a dollar figure on that. No wonder so many jws are broke. Sheesh!

  • waton
    waton

    plus going to the field service meeting and then into the territory, and drop of companions and home. at least 2 times a week unless you were pioneering, then a daily privilege.

    Jehovah (the gb really), was always generous with the time devoted to him, in a useless work.

  • redpilltwice
    redpilltwice
    Quick answer: Way too much!

    I fully agree longgone!

    I'm so glad I got out before the current downsizing and selling of Kindom Halls started! The GB has gone insane! Can you imagine all the extra time and miles for all those congregations involved in these new arrangements? How can they deal with this all these extra costs and pressure? Poor elderly and limited witnesses who need to rely on others just to make it to the meetings. I hope many will see the bullsh#t behind it (money for potential law suits anyone?) and stay home.

  • Anony Mous
    Anony Mous

    I claimed the miles as a deduction on my taxes, sadly the time donated does not qualify.

  • jp1692
    jp1692

    All of it!

  • pale.emperor
    pale.emperor

    At one point i was spending £80 a month minimum on travel to/from meetings. That's not including field service.

    As for time, yeah although the Thursday meeting was from 7:15pm-9pm, i'd get home from work at 6:30pm throw down a quick unhealthy meal down my neck, and leave for the meeting. Then you wouldnt get home until at least 10pm. So there's you evening gone.

    Sunday, you wouldnt get home until 1pm and that's if you didnt do ministry, if you DID go out on the ministry you'd get home around 3pm. There's your Sunday gone.

    And lets not forget you'd NEVER get a lie in. You're up for work at 7am every weekday, then on Saturday you're up at 8am to make it to the morning field service and up at 8:30 on Sunday.

    How the hell did we survive?!!

  • blondie
    blondie

    I didn't mind meetings, I didn't have to stay home alone with my pedophile father.

  • Iown Mylife
    Iown Mylife

    Blondie that was so awful.

    My cousin constantly saying Kids! Don't be in such a hurry to be an adult, it's not as good as you think!

    And I always say, I wouldn't relive my childhood for anything, even tho I'm old now. I'm so glad to be in charge of myself.

  • smiddy
    smiddy

    You can add to that money spent on accomadation at various Conventions over anything from 5-7 days in another city and some poor buggers losing their jobs by putting the conventions first over their employment.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    The money wasted on gas and vehicle wear alone could buy a nice amount of silver. Plus suit maintenance, fast good-tasting poison (McDonalds every day), and field circus supplies add up. At the end of the month, one could easily buy a whole roll of silver quarters and more if they pious-sneered, with the money they wasted on field circus and boasting sessions.

    And that doesn't even include Worldwide Damnation Fund donations. I have seen elderly people putting 20 toilet paper bills in the Worldwide Damnation Fund like it was nothing. With those bills at that time, they could have bought four silver coins or bars (one ounce each) per bill. And once I found four 50 toilet paper bills in an item I bought from a jokehovian, honestly reported it (I knew who originally stuffed the bills in, and since it was more than 20 toilet papers, I legally had to do that), and the idiot wanted me to just throw the bills away into the Worldwide Damnation Fund. At that time, this money could have bought me two tubs of silver rounds. What a stupid waste of money! And no, the idiot didn't even ask me to simply return the money--I had to throw it away with my own hands.

    If you think this is bad, I wonder how much they are going to waste going to Israel this spring and how much they wasted in 2015. Anyone that is going is going to be throwing away huge amounts of money. At today's silver prices, they are throwing away more than a whole monster box of silver's worth per person going. That assumes traveling coach class (including all the gotcha fees), staying in a relatively cheap motel room, and eating in relatively cheap places. Still, expenses are going to be excessive--and I assume some are stupid enough to pick up souvenirs that are going to waste even more money. Now that is a waste.

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