Remember the Rooming Work

orangefatcat

Well it has been alot of years since we engaged in the rooming work. Did anyone of you experience postive results or were people nasty. Share some of your stories.

Orangefatcat

The rooming work was done when the Society planned 5 and 8 day conventions in the past. Witnesses would go from house to house looking for rooms to rent for the convention candidates. They would try and get the prices at a reasonable rate so that person coming from far away or missionaries coming from far off lands had a place to stay that wasn't going to break them.

Sometimes years ago if a family were in need of a room and were unable to pay the price the convention would get the room and the congregation or society would pay for their accomodations. It use to be really exciting because some people were really nice and eager to make a few dollars . The Society had a sheet prepared that showed what to look for in homes and if the homes were clean or excellent. Sometimes it was hairy because they couldn't always get enough rooms. But it was fun trying. You met all kinds of people. Some very hospitalbe.

The organization doesn't do this work anymore. I guess they had some bad experiences with ones going to homes that were clean or where the householders became indiffferent to them being in their homes. All kinds of interesting stories were heard. And these experiences would be related at the conventions. Those were the days when you had the stamina to last a wk at an assembly. At these assemblies the served three full course meals in a day and sessions would start as early as 8am and then you'd have a couple hours off for lunch and then assemble again around 5pm and the assembly would end around 8-9 pm. Long days sitting on your rump was tough to say the least. I also found in those earlier years JW were nicer and more caring in the congregations. I guess with the change of tide in time they changed.

So this is what Rooming Work was...

LoveOrangefatcat

jeanniebeanz

Wow! I had no idea. This will be very interesting to watch as I'm sure you had to have a dozie of an experience or two.

Jean

Mulan

I did it several times and got rooms even.

cruzanheart

I remember that! And about 7 years ago, I remember offering our home to a pioneer from Sherman, Texas, a town waaaayyyy north of Dallas, while she attended Pioneer School. It was quite a pleasant experience, actually, and Jennie (who was about 4 at the time) followed our guest around endlessly and drank so much orange juice (because our guest drank nothing else, really) that she got a bad rash on her bum from the acid.

Mom always used my allergies as the excuse NOT to stay in anyone's home -- the closest we came was staying at a boarding house in St. John back in 1966 during a circuit assembly. That was an interesting experience, both for us and for the inhabitants of the boarding house who had never met such a crazy white woman as my mother. There were a lot of very large cockroaches who also lived happily in the building, at least until Mom showed up, and, um -- well, let's just say she didn't appreciate the local fauna very much.

Then there was the Society-approved hotel in Ft. Worth that turned out to be an old folks' home -- at least Mom was happy that she was the youngest person there, next to me and Dad.

Ah, the memories!

Nina

Aude_Sapere

1969. My parents started studying because of rooming work.

One of my dad's employees was a witness and mentioned to him that there was to be a big international convention in NYC and would he be interested in putting up a visiting family from another country.

My dad said, well, I don't know. How long is the convention? 5 days. So my dad figures family (2 adults and 2 children) arrive the day before and leave the day after.

Wrong. 2 Adult women and 2 teenagers (17 and 19) stay for 3 weeks.

*Heavy sigh* from both my parents. OK our house is your house. We will share our food and our home with you but NO PREACHING.

And they didn't preach a single word. For 3 weeks. My parents were baptized at the next district convention in 1970.

-Aude.

Edited to add: OH! the fun part that I remember was weeks and weeks leading up to their arrival my brother (6 y/o) and I (9 y/o) were imagining where they would be from. What language would the speak? How would we understand them??? Two days before the convention we got our answer: England!

My brother asked: "oh good! But what language do they speak??"

(umm actually, *I* asked that question, but i didn't want y'all to think I was that stupid....!)

Jim_TX

Put me down as having stayed in some of those rooms. The theory was that they cost less than staying in a motel - or hotel - for the duration of the Assembly.

When we went to Kansas City, MO (or was it Kansas) in 1970 or so... we literally were staying in a basement with a bathtub in the middle of it - and a shower curtain hung around it. *shaking head at the memory* I guess it was better than nothing.

Another time - the Assembly was at Texas Stadium... let's see... that must've been around 1972(?) or so... that place was nicer... but hot as heck... an old house with 12-foot ceilings - no A/C - and only ceiling fans to dry the sweat at night.

Yeah... I remember those days... *shudder*

Regards,

Jim TX

Undecided

I remember those days well. My family stayed in homes at several assemblies. I was also the room servant at a circuit assembly in 1955, the year my dad died. I was eighteen that year. We met some nice people that we stayed with, I especially remember a couple in Brooklyn, NY. We stayed in touch for several years after the assembly. I remember doing rooming work in Greensboro for a district assembly when I was in my teens. So many memories.....

Ken P.

BrendaCloutier

Oh yes, I remember rooming work! It was fun. No preaching for a change!

It was the year I got baptized, and for that assembly here in Portland, Oreg. 1971.

My mom and I went out almost daily over two weeks or so and got a good dozen or more of rooms in nice homes in nice neighborhoods, too. We got a lot of rejections during that time, but no one was nasty that I remember. We, personally, never stayed in private rooms when we went to conventions. My dad felt that we could afford a hotel and let others of lesser means use the rooms.

One home, I remember, turned over their fully finished attic with bathroom. They had twin folding beds (better than cots) used for when family with kids came to stay. The set up for something like 8 or 10 people! Mom and I were thrilled that a large family would have room to sleep for almost nothing. The homeowner was an older woman, husband passed, and was looking forward to company. I hope whomever stayed were well behaved!

Remember the Rooming Work

Share this