I'm working out at the YMCA with my sister, and she spots an old Dub friend of mine playing B'Ball on the court. I had become really close friends with him during my high school years (about seven years ago), and lost touch a couple of years ago. Anyway, he much like most other JW's in my life I never really had one last "HURAAAH" before I formally DA'd myself in 2004, so chances are he never got the word.
However, but this time I knew the was good chance that he had learned, because I had a lengthy discussion with his brother about it several months ago. His brother had stopped by the house to hit on my sister (who has nothing to do with JW's anymore either- but not DA'd), and I told him I was DA'd because it was obvious that he didn't know.
Anyway, the bigger brother comes up after playing B'Ball to the weight room, and interrupts me while I'm doing my squats. Intially he engages in small talk, but I can tell that he's nervous. I'm nonchalant, but more preoccupied with my squats. He leaves for about five minutes then comes back over to me. The first words out of his mouth,
"Are you still going to the meetings?"
"No haven't you heard? I disassociated myself last year."
"What?" he replies. But it's obvious that he's not surprised, but playing along.
"Yeah I disassociated myself last year sometime."
"Why?"
"Dude what reason?" I say, now I'm getting a little pissed. "It's a long story and you don't have enough time to listen anyway."
He moves onto the next topic, "so what about your parents?"
"They divorced last year sometime."
"They going to the Hall?"
"No one does. My mom goes to another church, and my dad doesn't go at all."
He says he's sorry, and that he wanted to keep in touch, but he lost my number. Thats BS, simply because I was not part of the JW clique that he was in at the time. He doesn't try to preach to me, because he's not that type, and couldn't form an arguement. For a JW he always walked a fine-line between being a good JW and "Worldly". One I could not walk.
Well to add to shock value I tell him, "Well if you ever wanna hang out-"
"You know I can't do that" he cuts in, interrupting me mid speech.
"You're a grown-ass man, you can do whatever you want," I reply. "But I was saying before, If you want to hang out, get with me before the end of the year, I'm going to Iraq in 2006."
"Huh?" I show him my dog tags, "I'm in the Navy dude. My unit ships out for Iraq next year, and if I'm done with training... I'll be going."
I want him to ask why I joined the Navy, so I can say that I'm defending his religious freedom to shun me for the rest of his days. But I doubt that he could understand the real reasons why I joined. So I leave it alone, and he leaves it alone and goes back to working out. My cousin who is with me, is pissed and goes telling off my sister, cursing the JW's.
The ironic thing is this... how judgemental can he be as an active JW in the YMCA?