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

by longgone 16 Replies latest jw experiences

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  scratchme1010

  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.
  

  I wish it was at least that! As as have posted, my uber JW father felt that he had to be more devoted than anyone. He volunteered to use his own vehicle to transport people to/from the KH. to do that he made two and sometimes three trips to/from the KH taking people. Of course, he would take us his family first, so we were at the KH at 5pm for the 7pm meeting. Also we were the last people to leave as he would take the others he transported first, meaning that we were still in the KH at 10:30pm, sometimes 11pm waiting for him to come pick us up.

  He saw absolutely nothing wrong with that, still to this day he doesn't. I refuse to even look at how much it costed him in gas and time, but the largest cost was in the resentment that he got from his own family, all for his attitude that he always had to do more than the rest.
  
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  sparky1

  I just checked MapQuest. The rural congregation that my family attended when I was a teenager was a 43 minute drive from our home. (one way) The book study was local , so we only made the trek to the Kingdom Hall twice a week for meetings.
  
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  biblexaminer

  Blondie

  Was your father a dub?
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  flipper

  It was just way too disgusting how much money and time was wasted on these meetings, service, and assemblies. I was a sole provider for almost 20 years in my first marriage to a very fanatic JW wife. Worked my ass off. WE had 3 small stair step children and not only did we spend upwards of $ 400.00 to $ 500.00 to just get food, buy hotel rooms, eat out at restaurants at District conventions- I had to miss work sometimes on Friday and then my then wife would say, " let's donate to Jehovah to let him see how much we appreciate this spiritual feast " on the Sunday program - slyly squeezing another $ 50.00 or so more dollars out of our already shrinking checking account. Same JW wife who charged up $ 25,000 on credit cards mysteriously wondering " where did all our money go " ?

  Sometimes I felt like the " Rodney Dangerfield " of JW's I swear. I got " no respect " whatsoever. But I know I'm not alone. There are hundreds if not thousands of you fellow EX-JW's here on this board that can identify with my story. I'm glad we are OUT ! Freedom is so sweet it feels like a spiritual orgasm each day of my life or awakening to reality these last 14 years I've been out ! We were SO trapped people. Be glad those days are gone
  
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  eyeuse2badub

  The money is one thing for sure but the time spent at those bullsh*t meetings is what i regret. In my lifetime so far, doing some rough math, at least 5 meetings per week (plus lots and lots of elder meetings), times 52 weeks in the year times, times 62 years till I discovered ttatt equals 16,120 f**king meetings. Plus getting ready, plus preparation, plus travel time, plus field service, plus family study, plus sheep herding, equals literally years I'll never see again---unless jehober resurrects me--not counting on it!

  Damn it's good to be free and enjoy life now!

  just saying!
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  David_Jay

  Every penny and every second that didn't end up in me getting laid.
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  Mikh

  "I wish it was at least that! As as have posted, my uber JW father felt that he had to be more devoted than anyone. He volunteered to use his own vehicle to transport people to/from the KH. to do that he made two and sometimes three trips to/from the KH taking people. Of course, he would take us his family first, so we were at the KH at 5pm for the 7pm meeting. Also we were the last people to leave as he would take the others he transported first, meaning that we were still in the KH at 10:30pm, sometimes 11pm waiting for him to come pick us up."

  That sounds absolutely miserable. Hope you are enjoying your time now though.

  I spent 2 years attending meetings. Many times, I would have bible study before the meeting for at least an hour, often more, before going to the meeting after. When you are invested in it, it does not seem so bad. I actually liked it. But by the time I was ready to stop, it was exhausting. Getting dressed felt like a chore (I have never liked dressing formally anyways) and I was fighting to stay awake during the meetings. At least I had football to look forward to after the meetings. Needless to say, it was more depressing when football season was over.

  Still, thats nothing compared to the time and resources many people have described here.