187: Stephan left the Jehovah's Witnesses

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

I don’t go to the local mall very often.

But when I need something that’s only sold at one of those stores there, I make a trip to the mall. And there’s something that happens almost every time.

Since the store I need to visit is usually at the other end, I have to walk down the main aisle. As I make my way through the mall, there are stores on my left and right of course. But there are also now the kiosks in the middle, from one end of the mall to the other. These set-ups are cheaper than having a full retail walk-in store.

And every time I’m walking, there’s a perfume dealer. And there will be one or two salespeople trying to flag people down and check out a free sample of some kind of perfume and get you to buy some. They’re usually going after the female shoppers and you can see that women try to walk by and not make eye contact. No one wants to be approached by a sales person.

Whenever I see someone like that, I always think, “Wow, that has to be the worst job in the world. Nothing but rejection for 40 hours a week.”

But there are people who do that same kind of thing – and they aren’t in the mall. In fact, they aren’t even getting paid. It’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I see them all the time, with their bookshelf and their literature, set up on street corners, in a public park, on the side of a bike or walking trail. Just standing there trying to get someone to stop and talk to them, so they can hopefully recruit them into joining. Some of them still go out knocking on doors even.

Stephan was one of those people. But today you’ll hear how he finally was able to get away from that group, and what he lost – and gained - as a result of that decision.

Also – Stephan is part of the team that creates a podcast that I subscribe to, and we’ll talk about that toward the end of our conversation.

If you’d like to contact Stephan, his email is: [e-mail]

Check out the Multispective podcast at Multispective.org.

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/187

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.

Try What Was That Like PLUS free:

iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”

Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app

Sponsor deals:

To get your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/WHAT

Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week.

Go to Seed.com/what and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month.

Go to storyworth.com/what to save $10 on your first purchase!

For a limited time, our listeners will get an exclusive 15% off their first OneSkin purchase using the code WWTL when you checkout at oneskin.co.

Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices