I won't tell anyone either. Stringing chairs has to be one of the goofiest things I was exposed to in the way. And as soon as people sat down all that work was obliterated.... <_<
Long ago, on a far away planet, I played in bands and worked for theatrical companies. So, I do understand the importance of proper staging and setup. This stuff, though, was just Wackoville. It served no real purpose other than to exert control over the participants. To think it was some kind of exercise in developing "spiritual awareness" is ludicrous and delusional.
This stuff, though, was just Wackoville. It served no real purpose other than to exert control over the participants. To think it was some kind of exercise in developing "spiritual awareness" is ludicrous and delusional.
In the early 1970s, there was a two or three page tutorial of sorts, sent out by HQ, that had instructions for running branch meetings and such. It was filled with priceless gems of wisdom, things like "Don't pick your seat.".hahaha! I'm not kidding. You can't make that kind of stuff up. I wish I still had a copy. I'd use it to *pick my seat*.
On my interim year at hq.....I was assigned to oversee the responsibility of stringing chairs in the BRC. Thus, it was my household duty after supper to oversee each corps group with stringing chairs and setting up top-floor BRC before the next meeting. So, for a couple of weeks.... the supply box would come out and the chairs would be strung in perfect rows.
Well......it didn't take long before I saw this nifty short-cut.
Since these chairs had been placed in, basically, the same position for years......we would shut off the overhead lights and use the 'lover lights' only because then, the carpet showed the indentations more clearly. Voila! No more string was needed.
Seriously.....we had straight rows and BRC set-up accomplished in about 12 minutes. The inrez corps loved me for it.....as we 'outsmarted' the taskmasters and went about our merry way. It was our own little secret.
A secret that, until today.........I don't think I've ever confessed.
Since these chairs had been placed in, basically, the same position for years......we would shut off the overhead lights and use the 'lover lights' only because then, the carpet showed the indentations more clearly. Voila! No more string was needed.
Seriously.....we had straight rows and BRC set-up accomplished in about 12 minutes. .
Very much on the Word, Sky. Consider it "redeeming the time."
My new church has loose seats that can be completely removed. For the church's dedication, these were set out in rows. Some were not exactly straight - neat, but not "perfectly strung." Ping! Immediate leap into Way-mindset! And I took a deep breath, went about my own task, straightened any chairs I'd knocked out of the way ... and that was it. Next time I saw the chairs (next day), there were bums on seats and the lines were anything but straight. And everybody was VERY HAPPY and DELIGHTED to be a part of the dedication. And the bishop never said a word about the chairs not being perfectly straight. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Very much on the Word, Sky. Consider it "redeeming the time."
twinky.......yeah, works for me. Thanks.
I've said this before, but......I think my farming background had alot to do with my independent streak. Doing twi's mundane, trivial tasks in the name of "spiritual learning" were just asinine to me. My Dad had me driving a tractor at age 10 and a combine during wheat harvest at 11......along with cattle, alfalfa fields, corn irrigation, etc. it gave me a perspective of real work.
Stringing chairs was like "busy work".......to order us around, just because they could. I despised it.
Perhaps, I'd view this differently if wierwille and others had walked in spiritual power, rather than just chest-pumping platitudes. The whole place reeked of repetition and fraud. Good riddance to those memories of misery.
Ahh - taking me back to the endless hours spent bored to tears re-stringing the chairs in the big top auditorium at the Rock of Ages 3x per day.
Yeah.....the waste of human energy was staggering.
And, speaking of roa.......around 1980 -- a family corps guy, military vet, was assigned to crawl around the scaffolding under the main stage to check for bombs. He specialized in munitions while in the military. Wierwille and psycho-geer were increasingly more paranoid with each passing year.
Outstanding observation Mr. Waysider. You and Skyrider know your way around a certain cult in Ohio.
I've had to string a chair or two in my time, and discovered that older metal folding chairs never line up. When higherups used to try and nag us to death about not stringing properly....we just pointed them to the blue circle on the bottom of the seat. Whenever we had trouble lining one up....it was usually because that chair was bent from use....and we spray painted a blue dot on the bottom of the seat.
it makes me sick how many chairs were stringed, how many table settings were lined up, how many rugs were raked
it just disgusts me
preparation for leadership and helping people
oh yeah it's all in the details
friggin jerks
There's an interesting episode of M*A*S*H in which one of the clues they use to figure out that Frank Burns has lost his mind is that he has the condiments all lined up in a row in the Mess Hall ... which was done three times a day at The Way C of E, as I recall ...not to mention the chairs, the plates, etc ...
The sad part of it- I think all of the stringing chairs, stringing condiment containers in the proper order, courtesy folds, etc.. gave credence to the illusion that what the vicster had to offer was really worth stringing chairs, condiments and toilet paper for..
The sad part of it- I think all of the stringing chairs, stringing condiment containers in the proper order, courtesy folds, etc.. gave credence to the illusion that what the vicster had to offer was really worth stringing chairs, condiments and toilet paper for..
You make a good point... What did it really accomplish?
(Aside from creating an illusion that any of it made a difference.)
In the cafeteria at RC it was the same; everything had to be lined up perfectly. I remember being a reluctant participant in such activity and thinking I was supposed to learn something spiritual by sighting down a string to make sure each salt shaker, pepper shaker, knife-fork-spoon etc was perfectly aligned table to table to table and thinking, "this is really stupid busywork when they don't give us enough to eat in the first place." (Most of the food we grew went to NK for the important ones to enjoy.)
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johniam
At Dennys they do wonderful things with eggs...(whispered) they cook them! And Some auditoriums do wonderful things with seats...they attach them to the floor!
Ham
I think the only difference it made.. it showed that a few dedicated individuals really CARED. If it wasn't the vicster.. maybe it would have been for a better cause.. well, I've found a few better
waysider
I think his point was to try to compare what we did in a "non-profit" cult to something being done in an upscale, "for profit" establishment. You know, like when people try to compare V.PeePee to Davi
waysider
Mum's the word. You secret's safe with me.
(Kinda like that vow I took to never talk about "the secret initiation into the inner sanctum"....OOPS!)
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chockfull
skyrider,
No wonder you were cast out. Such free-thinking initiative is not the stuff that stepford wives are made of :)
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OldSkool
I won't tell anyone either. Stringing chairs has to be one of the goofiest things I was exposed to in the way. And as soon as people sat down all that work was obliterated.... <_<
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waysider
Long ago, on a far away planet, I played in bands and worked for theatrical companies. So, I do understand the importance of proper staging and setup. This stuff, though, was just Wackoville. It served no real purpose other than to exert control over the participants. To think it was some kind of exercise in developing "spiritual awareness" is ludicrous and delusional.
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skyrider
Wackoville in wierwille-ville.
Stringing chairs, mowing grass, breathmints in podium dish, climbing rocks, etc.......TO BUILD SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP.
Geez Louise......wasn't there something in pfal scoffing the proper placement of candles on the altar??? And then...
wierwille goes out and indoctrinates a legion of followers in this crap!
Really....it's almost like someone bewitched us into idiot servitude. No wonder when people exit twi......few ever care
to admit their involvement with this cult. At least, being anonymous......it's not so embarrassing to discuss.
And......don't get me started on all those crappy kids songs!
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waysider
In the early 1970s, there was a two or three page tutorial of sorts, sent out by HQ, that had instructions for running branch meetings and such. It was filled with priceless gems of wisdom, things like "Don't pick your seat.".hahaha! I'm not kidding. You can't make that kind of stuff up. I wish I still had a copy. I'd use it to *pick my seat*.
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DogLover
Priceless! I love it!
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100% Free
You'd have to have OCD to think stringing chairs mattered.
Glad you figured a reasonable solution.
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johniam
At Dennys they do wonderful things with eggs...(whispered) they cook them!
And
Some auditoriums do wonderful things with seats...they attach them to the floor!
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Twinky
My new church has loose seats that can be completely removed. For the church's dedication, these were set out in rows. Some were not exactly straight - neat, but not "perfectly strung." Ping! Immediate leap into Way-mindset! And I took a deep breath, went about my own task, straightened any chairs I'd knocked out of the way ... and that was it. Next time I saw the chairs (next day), there were bums on seats and the lines were anything but straight. And everybody was VERY HAPPY and DELIGHTED to be a part of the dedication. And the bishop never said a word about the chairs not being perfectly straight. Ha ha ha ha ha.
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chockfull
Ahh - taking me back to the endless hours spent bored to tears re-stringing the chairs in the big top auditorium at the Rock of Ages 3x per day.
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skyrider
twinky.......yeah, works for me. Thanks.
I've said this before, but......I think my farming background had alot to do with my independent streak. Doing twi's mundane, trivial tasks in the name of "spiritual learning" were just asinine to me. My Dad had me driving a tractor at age 10 and a combine during wheat harvest at 11......along with cattle, alfalfa fields, corn irrigation, etc. it gave me a perspective of real work.
Stringing chairs was like "busy work".......to order us around, just because they could. I despised it.
Perhaps, I'd view this differently if wierwille and others had walked in spiritual power, rather than just chest-pumping platitudes. The whole place reeked of repetition and fraud. Good riddance to those memories of misery.
<_<
.
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skyrider
Yeah.....the waste of human energy was staggering.
And, speaking of roa.......around 1980 -- a family corps guy, military vet, was assigned to crawl around the scaffolding under the main stage to check for bombs. He specialized in munitions while in the military. Wierwille and psycho-geer were increasingly more paranoid with each passing year.
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waysider
Maybe that's because, with each passing year, the list of cuckold husbands and dishonored fathers grew larger and larger.
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krys
Outstanding observation Mr. Waysider. You and Skyrider know your way around a certain cult in Ohio.
I've had to string a chair or two in my time, and discovered that older metal folding chairs never line up. When higherups used to try and nag us to death about not stringing properly....we just pointed them to the blue circle on the bottom of the seat. Whenever we had trouble lining one up....it was usually because that chair was bent from use....and we spray painted a blue dot on the bottom of the seat.
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skyrider
So, while wierwille's lusts are going vroom, vroom.......later, his mind fears a boom, boom.
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excathedra
it makes me sick how many chairs were stringed, how many table settings were lined up, how many rugs were raked
it just disgusts me
preparation for leadership and helping people
oh yeah it's all in the details
friggin jerks
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DogLover
There's an interesting episode of M*A*S*H in which one of the clues they use to figure out that Frank Burns has lost his mind is that he has the condiments all lined up in a row in the Mess Hall ... which was done three times a day at The Way C of E, as I recall ...not to mention the chairs, the plates, etc ...
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excathedra
that was really insightfully funny DL
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Ham
The sad part of it- I think all of the stringing chairs, stringing condiment containers in the proper order, courtesy folds, etc.. gave credence to the illusion that what the vicster had to offer was really worth stringing chairs, condiments and toilet paper for..
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waysider
You make a good point... What did it really accomplish?
(Aside from creating an illusion that any of it made a difference.)
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Ham
I think the only difference it made.. it showed that a few dedicated individuals really CARED.
If it wasn't the vicster.. maybe it would have been for a better cause..
well, I've found a few better causes since then.
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OldSkool
Dig that. My cause since leaving the way int. has been to get my self deprogrammed and my family taken care of.
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Watered Garden
In the cafeteria at RC it was the same; everything had to be lined up perfectly. I remember being a reluctant participant in such activity and thinking I was supposed to learn something spiritual by sighting down a string to make sure each salt shaker, pepper shaker, knife-fork-spoon etc was perfectly aligned table to table to table and thinking, "this is really stupid busywork when they don't give us enough to eat in the first place." (Most of the food we grew went to NK for the important ones to enjoy.)
What a load of manure!
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