I was at Bethel and though I did not experience the same things he did I realize enough of his story to know it is true.
I was a married sister and my overseer hated me from the start, the first day I was there. I was in construction, I thought as a sister I would be placed in housekeeping or some such thing, no I was assigned construction. I knew nothing about it. The CO's wife told me to bring only dresses as at Bethel sisters were not allowed to wear jeans. My overseer was so MAD at me for not having jeans with me, he told me that NO CO's wife would ever tell me such a thing. We had no money for me to buy cloths so I got jeans out of the hoppers, they did not fit well but it was the best I could do.
My first three days my overseer had me sort nuts and bolts and screws that were in this file cabinet. I spent three loooooong days doing the mind numbing job. I sat there most of the time by myself wondering why my overseer hated me so much. I will never forget the hurt I felt on the fourth day when my overseer in a fit of rage over something that one of the bothers did dumped all the nuts, bouts, and screws into a huge pile that I had just spent the three days sorting out all back together. All my mind numbing work destroyed in just seconds right in front of me.
My overseer took great joy in telling me that I was there only for the free food and such. That he knew most about 70% of the Bethelites were there only for the free stuff, One of his sayings was that most of Bethel just drags themselves around not willing to work.
It sadly funny now looking back I never remember seeing my overseer work. All he did was walk around complaining and yelling at everyone. I never saw him truly work.
One time he decided that I needed to hang out the window on scaffolding three stories up. I am petrified of heights but I felt that Jehovah was telling me to do it (mind over matter) so I stepped out three stories up on wobbly boards. I just instantly got down and hugged the railing. I was not tied off, the boards were set right and moved like crazy the whole thing was swaying, I was so freaked out and my overseer was SO MAD at me. He yelled at me to just back inside.
There was nothing I could do that was right, everything I did was wrong, even things that I did right he found something wrong with it. Never once in the whole time I was at Bethel did he ever say a kind word to me. NEVER! It was always we were "just good for nothing slaves" quoiting from the Bible.
I know ones like fisherman will say I was stupid that no one asked me to go that I was probably truly lazy that I did not want to work that I was there for the free food and room, etc.
Fisherman and ones like him are a huge reason why I do not post here much anymore. When we pioneered where the CO told us to, where the need was great we qualified for government aid welfare, food stamps. I would not take it. I have never once in my life taken government help. I pioneered because I was mislead to believe that Jehovah wanted me to. It was my idea and I was not going to be a burden on anyone especially tax payers who were not Jehovah's servants. I have always worked and supported myself, working 30 plus hours a week while pioneering 90 hours a month.
Yet here I was at Jehovah's house and being accused of being there for the free stuff. It hurt like crazy than and it still hurts like crazy now 21 years latter. I will never get the words of hate and anger from my overseer out of my head. So go on fisherman and slam me and those who put ourselves out to be so stupid as to believe that Jehovah wanted us. I know I was stupid and lazy like my overseer told me. I was lifting 90 pound over my head for my job and I was a woman who weighed 120 at the time but hey yeh I was just a lazy no good human.
LITS