What is G-JOBBING for Bethelites????????? (page 7)

metatron

While I don't remember the CQ stuff, there was the incident
where Knorr reacted to 3 new boys throwing water out of the
windows on to passers-by. He denounced them before the Bethel
family and had them step up to the mike to personally
apologize to everybody. At that time, NYC officials were
temp housing welfare cases in local hotels and Knorr got mad that
the org might get associated with these folks throwin' garbage.
Anyhow, the GB told him not to do this again because it was forced
repentance and too much like Stalinist stuff.

funtimes

metatron

Good God! you think a year that way was rough ? Try FOUR years
back in the old days! Knorr, being the self righteous sadist
that he was, would ream out unfaithful Bethelites every chance
he got. "You vowed, you promised before Jehovah, blah blah."
Bethel was slavery in a ruthless sweatshop - they had the draft
during the war in Vietnam so if you left , you could end up
losing your deferment and in prison (remember, no alternative
service allowed back then)

metatron

Maximus

I'm laughing.

One of the most painful things I anticipated was braving the lion in his den, when I had to ask Knorr permission to leave. I cringed at the thought, stewed about it for days, rehearsed it over and over.

My application was one of the ones that said:

"Will you remain in your assignment until the Lord takes you away?"

That was considered a vow, folks.

M

I kid you not.

JT

Will you remain in your assignment until the Lord takes you away?"

#######

stop that now-----you are showing your age- smile

yep i recall GB Sydlik telling us one day at breakfast that was the reason he resisted leaving the pioneer work out in LA to come to the cold nyc area

he told us he fought it long and hard, but finally agreed to sign the VOW smile

can you believe that siging up to help print and bind some books that in 5 yrs would be worthless constituted a VOW TO GOD

man the mindset is unreal looking back

and the mere fact that guys like yourself were so sincere in believing that was exactly what you were doing making a Vow to the Most High God Himself

so sad

_______

hey max ck out the mail post i got on g-jobbing

RationalWitness

Since the thread has taken a decided turn toward some of the 'nastier' memories of Bethel life, I felt compelled to relate one story that took place in the early 70's but bothers me still. One of the Bethel barbers, a youngish brother (but older than I) was caught exposing himself from the window of his room, which looked over the promenade below 124 Columbia Heights. Apparently he had been doing this for some time, but on this occasion a Bethelite happened to be walking the promenade and observed him. (Whether he recognized this barber as one who cut his hair every three weeks, I don't recall.)

The committee of Bethel elders handling the case decided to involve his wife. While questioning her about their sexual practices, the committee extracted a confession from her that she had a problem with masturbation. Not content that perhaps her husband's sexual problems had caused her to adopt this practice, they pursued the matter until they had ascertained that her first orgasm was attained as a young girl while riding a bicycle. This woman was a lovely and kind person who just happened to have an oddball husband. Along with her husband, she had to leave Bethel in shame and embarrassment, leaving behind only the personal and not-entirely-private details of her sexual life ... for the records.

Rational

metatron

did that barber's name end in a vowel? did he like plush shag
carpeting?

Ok, you got me going.....

WE LOVE OUR SISTERS

Once upon a time, there was a Bethel overseer with a lot of
sisters in his dept. - and frequent absenteeism (Subscriptions,
I think). He got the bright idea of trying to find out when
their periods were, so he could put them on a calendar and
plan for their absence from work. "Sister so & so must be
on the rag today ......" Strangely, the idea never caught on.

THE BROTHER WHO COULD KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE

I envied the brothers who worked on press assembly, putting
up enormously heavy structures in the factory. You see,
when a tour of publishers came by (including young sisters),
they might ask "And where do you work, Brother?"
----which allowed various brothers to reply:

"On the Erection Crew". (and they never cracked a smile)

BETHEL AS A SURREALIST PAINTING

Once a tired Bethelite missed breakfast and morning worship.
He thought to himself "I wonder what we must look like to
worldly people?" - while staring out his window, overlooking
the Columbia Heights street.
Just then breakfast ended,
A bell rang,
Doors burst open onto the street,
about 1000 well dressed people suddenly marched out

and each one was holding a banana.

I WISH I COULD SAY THAT

Not only were there crazy people IN Bethel, there were also
crazy people who 'hung around' outside Bethel. One old lady,
with a loud voice, used to sit on a park bench, watching
the Bethelites go by.
And she had Tourettes' syndrome
and she had it real bad.
So, you had all these smug, self- righteous high mucky-mucks
in the Society walking by

And she would address them individually (and loudly)
using strings of obscene epithets that would make a sailor wince.

man, you just had to be there

metatron

Roamingfeline

As Prisca said, this thread is worth bringing back to the top. Man, was it ever an eye opener! Do any of you who went to Bethel remember a Mike Bloomquist and his wife Denise? Mike worked on the elevators, and once in the early eighties, he fell down the shaft and got hurt pretty bad. His wife Denise was hurt in a car accident, which gave her head injuries, so they were made to leave since she could no longer fulfill her work duties as they deemed necessary.

Another older couple who have been there the past few years, are Bro and sister Webb, from Missouri. They have a daughter Stephanie, who's married to a guy named Tim, and I can't for the life of me remember their last name. They both went to Bethel a few years ago too. Bet they're getting an eyeful now!

Thanks for this truly, eye-opening thread!

RCat

joelbear

Well, I loved Bethel.

I was at the farm and worked in the subscription department. I worked with Sister Knorr for a while. She was a sweetheart.

The only weird things that happened to me there were the Home Overseer freaking out because my roommate used a bethel towel to wipe up a spill in our room rather than using a rag and the time my work overseer got onto me for not using a proofing marker long enough before going to get a new one. Oh and the already mentioned fighting for food after meals.

I loved my job. I loved having roommates to talk to about our day. I made many friends. I had some great times. I loved watching the sunrise over the Shawongunk mountains in the fall.

Unfortunately I also really loved walking through the men's showers after work. This admission is what got me kicked out for sure. I think they would have let me stay even after telling a brother I loved him, if I hadnt told them that I still walked through the shower room every afternoon after work. Well, I had gone cold turkey for 3 weeks, but that wasn't long enough.

They were very kind to me. They told me I would be better off pioneering. I was on the regular pioneer list 6 months after leaving bethel.

So, I have mostly fond memories of my time there.

hugs

Joel

Mulan

Okay, Rational, I have to ask: How do you know about that
sister's first orgasm being from a bicycle? Isn't that kind
of a personal thing to have gotten out?

sf

Good thread (approx. one yr. ago)...lurkers and re-searchers should have a gander.

If man was supposedly created in gods image, then.....holy krap...we're all doomed.-sKallyWagger

“What a blessing such integrity keepers are to the congregation!”(5/15/02 WT magazine, pg. 27)

What is G-JOBBING for Bethelites?????????

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