by nevaagain 41 Replies latest jw friends
My mother used to pay some bills in the mornings and put tracts in them. She would start her time before the meeting for fs this way. She probably still does this, I don't know.
I don't judge people who try these tactics. It's a miserable thing trying to get your hours. Being away from it makes you realize how foolish it all was. And you eventually realize how little control of your life they really have! It's only what you let them to have.
100%. For decades we all knew the tricks to "start our time."
I've heard in some rural areas they start with a "roll by", drive to the territory and count the time stopping for lunch if they share the "good new" with the waitress. And they feel quite holy about the whole thing as they shun their relatives.
You can't blame them...they are told over and over again to get and keep their numbers up to qualify for the pet tiger.
I'm kind of in two minds on this topic.
While I question the elasticity of Witnesses "Bible-trained consciences" in finding ways to stretch out hours NOT spent trying to reach people (this does not include traveling to reach people), I understand their struggle to keep doing something that is, at some level, arduous and unrewarding.
Good on them for coming up with ways to get breaks from the dullness of it all - but its the sneakiness of it all that strikes me. If it's okay and up to your conscience, why be so secretive about it? Witnesses at times do come across as naughty children about to get csught out.
We had this thing called the Pioneer Shuffle where you made a call on one side of the city, then made your second call on the opposite side of the city, then your third was back where your first call was and so forth.
You could get 4 hours in and only make 6 calls all morning. It was awesome!
One April when my kids were young I signed up to aux pio. The quota then was 60 hours. Half way through the month we had a LOT of rain and I needed at least 40 more hours. By this time I regretted signing up but felt I had to honor my commitment sooo....... I rented dozens of videos of Bible characters, Samson, Daniel, David etc, and made my kids watch them with me. Yes, I knew I was only supposed to count 4 hours with them but I reasoned that I had a greater chance of making disciples out of them than anyone else! Regrettably, I was right.
As in everything, you get what you emphasize. In the case of the WTS, they make a big issue out of "hours" - so guess what, that is exactly what they receive! i.e. an impressive amount of "time", most of which is utterly meaningless. I would have to say that I was at least as innovative as anybody else when it came to making a day in "service" stretch out, so as to fill up the quota. Much of that sprang out of sheer resentment:
- I remember feeling "You B%$#&*d, you want hours, I'll give you bloody hours!"
Just as well "This System" is not really in its death throes, and its residents in need of an urgent warning of imminent destruction. Were that really to be the case, this lot would be failing miserably in issuing that "warning".
Bill.
For most of my life as a Dub I was scrupulously honest about the actual time I was knocking on doors, no counting Coffee breaks for me, or any of the other dodges.
An Elder, who was our "Group Overseer" took me aside and asked about my Report once, he knew I had been out more than him during the Month, and yet reported far less time.
I explained how I calculated my "time", he said it gave a false impression to the C.O, I just shrugged my shoulders, I was not out to impress a C.O.
I knew too that it exposed a number of Elders who were more or less never seen out, and yet reported far more than me.
