The Great Zorg
Gold Meritorious Patron
Non-scientologists.
Looking back on it, that is correct! That is the simplest and the most true answer.
Staffer Nightmares -or- Reasons To Blow For Good
- Thread starter The Great Zorg
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Looking back on it, that is correct! That is the simplest and the most true answer.
Axiom142
Gold Meritorious Patron
When I was at St Hill in ’86, CMO decided that there wasn’t enough security. There was a security ‘org’ but only had two members (Kevin Tyson and Jim Grainger). Since it was impractical for them to cover security during the day and the night, it was decreed that all the orgs (except CMO and RTC, obviously 
) on the base had to cover each night with two people between them. Being the largest, AOSH had to provide the most, but my org, CLO had to provide several as well.
For some reason I can’t remember, I eventually got Sat nights 24:00 – 03:00. I didn’t mind this so much, as it meant that I only had to stay up an extra 3 hours (yes, our working day finished at midnight!), whereas, most of the other guys had to do a whole day (09:30 – 24:00) and then do a whole night, before retiring at 09:30 and hopefully getting a lift back to their berthing for some sleep (if they were lucky).
I did a few of these before my final routine was established, and hated it. Imagine going through a whole day, being very tired at the end of it, and then having to stay awake for another 9 1/2 hours, without being allowed to rest or sleep (this was the Sea Org – you carried out your assignment without fail, or else). It was a nightmare for me, I couldn’t sit down otherwise I would fall asleep. And then, it would mess up my body clock for several days afterwards.
After one all-nighter, I decide that rather than go back and get some sleep, I’d stay on at my regular post and do some work, before retiring early later in the day. I lasted until lunchtime, and had to go and get some sleep when I started hallucinating and giggling.
The 3 hour slot was much more manageable and I actually looked forward to it. It gave me a chance to read the first two chronicles of Thomas Covenant and have some interesting chats with some of the older staff.
Once, Dave Skull talked about the ‘old’ days (late 60s) and some of the infamous characters such as Herbie Parkhouse. On another occasion, Alan Cook told me of what happened in the early 80s when the GO got booted out. He was up by the car park one day, when suddenly a half dozen or so burly SO missionaries, some armed with sledgehammers, came running down the driveway. They went up to the Manor where the GO were located, and when they weren’t let in, smashed down the doors.
Then there were the accounts of how the local motorcycle gangs would race through the grounds, causing mayhem. The situation was so bad that guards had to walk around in groups late at night, armed with baseball bats or pickaxe handles. One time, a lone staff member saw a group of guards approaching, and instead of being sensible and greeting them, panicked and jumped into a nearby bush. On seeing this, the guards rushed to said bush and began liberally beating it (and the unfortunate staff member) with their weapons!
When I got really bored, I used to go down to the stables, where the kitchen was and make some pancakes, with sugar and lemon juice. This was the culinary highlight of my week!
There were several ‘incidents’ while I was on duty:
The first was when there was a party at the Rugby club across the road. One of my fellow CLOers, Jerry, walked past me at the front entrance to go home around 1am. The next thing I know, he came running back through the main gate shouting. A local yob had accosted him, and then followed him onto the ‘base’. So I come running over, ready to do my duty. I had just lined him up for a kung-fu kick that my friend Dave had shown me, when I decided that this wasn’t such a good idea and instead confronted him verbally. Anyway, it turned out that he and his friend had been to the party, had a little too much to drink and then been attacked by another group. His friend had a bloody nose, but he had run off and then returned when it was safe and was looking for someone to take it out on. I managed to calm him down somewhat and then we called the police, who naturally couldn’t care less.
The one with the bloody nose did eventually get taken off to hospital.
Another time, I was patrolling down by the Manor, and as usual had engaged stealth mode, so that I could sneak up on any would-be infiltrators and take them by surprise. I arrived at the corner of the Manor, by the garden, when I saw a shadowy figure slip across the terrace, past the goldfish ponds, to the doors of the Manor itself.
On closer inspection, I saw that there were two people, dressed in combat fatigues and balaclavas. This presented me with a dilemma. If I attempted to detain them, I was outnumbered and they might be armed. If I used my walkie-talkie to call for backup, they would hear and then run off. If I retreated outside of earshot, this might give them time to break in and possibly start a fire.
So, with the recklessness of youth, I rushed towards them, shouting for them to stop. As I approached, there a moment of comedy as the nearest one looked startled, before turning to his partner in crime, with a “what do we do now!” look. Then they both ran at full pelt across the terrace and into the undergrowth. I duly gave chase while loudly blowing my emergency whistle. The blowing of the whistle was the signal for the other nightwatcher to come running PDQ to give assistance.
At this point, I decide that it was too risky to give chase in the dark, with an unknown number of assailants possibly lying in wait, so I stopped and called in on the walkie-talkie and waited for backup. Expecting my partner Darren, to come tearing down the driveway in his haste to support me, I was rather annoyed when he eventually ambled up after several minutes, saying “What’s up?”
This incident was reported to OSA and they called the police. I wasn’t too worried though, I was pretty sure that this was a couple of local kids playing at being spies.
Two more incident happened together. It was the end of 1986 / start of 1987. There was the obligatory new year’s eve party and I had to do nightwatch!
Sometime after midnight, I walked up to the main car park and saw a rather strange sight. One of the Bournemouth mission staff, Andrea, had parked her car there and was standing by it. Nothing unusual about this, except that there was significant damage to the front nearside and the front wheel on that side had completely lost its tyre and in fact, had been ground down by dragging on the tarmac. Fully a quarter of the wheel was missing!
She claimed that she had hit a tree down the road and then driven on to the org. I’m pretty sure she had been drinking and didn’t want the police to stop her. Rather a stupid thing to do, especially considering that there was a clear trail caused by the now ruined wheel dragging along the tarmac, leading straight into the St Hill car park!
Obviously, I didn’t call the police as this would have reflected badly on the ‘church’. I really wish I had now, as I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she had struck another vehicle and then fled the scene.
Then, to cap that evening, sometime after 2am, I was down by the castle and saw the CO CLO, Steve Lake in one of the Tours cars, trying to drive it. It was pretty clear that he was the worse for alcohol, so we persuaded him to get out of the driving seat and I drove him back to our berthing at Bullards. It was only when I helped him out of the car there, and he almost fell over and retched, that I realised just how inebriated he was.
So much for Sea Org members (and OTIII) being so much more ethical than the general populace.
Rather inevitably, some months after this, he borrowed one of the org’s cars and smashed it up in an accident. He was unhurt, but we lost one of our best cars.
When the castle was renovated in the early 90s, several security cameras were installed and these have been added to in recent years. I guess this reduces the need for staff to patrol, but no doubt there are still poor buggers wandering around the grounds in the wee hours, in the freezing cold, while we are safely tucked up in bed.
Let’s spare a thought for them.
Axiom142
) on the base had to cover each night with two people between them. Being the largest, AOSH had to provide the most, but my org, CLO had to provide several as well.For some reason I can’t remember, I eventually got Sat nights 24:00 – 03:00. I didn’t mind this so much, as it meant that I only had to stay up an extra 3 hours (yes, our working day finished at midnight!), whereas, most of the other guys had to do a whole day (09:30 – 24:00) and then do a whole night, before retiring at 09:30 and hopefully getting a lift back to their berthing for some sleep (if they were lucky).
I did a few of these before my final routine was established, and hated it. Imagine going through a whole day, being very tired at the end of it, and then having to stay awake for another 9 1/2 hours, without being allowed to rest or sleep (this was the Sea Org – you carried out your assignment without fail, or else). It was a nightmare for me, I couldn’t sit down otherwise I would fall asleep. And then, it would mess up my body clock for several days afterwards.
After one all-nighter, I decide that rather than go back and get some sleep, I’d stay on at my regular post and do some work, before retiring early later in the day. I lasted until lunchtime, and had to go and get some sleep when I started hallucinating and giggling.
The 3 hour slot was much more manageable and I actually looked forward to it. It gave me a chance to read the first two chronicles of Thomas Covenant and have some interesting chats with some of the older staff.
Once, Dave Skull talked about the ‘old’ days (late 60s) and some of the infamous characters such as Herbie Parkhouse. On another occasion, Alan Cook told me of what happened in the early 80s when the GO got booted out. He was up by the car park one day, when suddenly a half dozen or so burly SO missionaries, some armed with sledgehammers, came running down the driveway. They went up to the Manor where the GO were located, and when they weren’t let in, smashed down the doors.
Then there were the accounts of how the local motorcycle gangs would race through the grounds, causing mayhem. The situation was so bad that guards had to walk around in groups late at night, armed with baseball bats or pickaxe handles. One time, a lone staff member saw a group of guards approaching, and instead of being sensible and greeting them, panicked and jumped into a nearby bush. On seeing this, the guards rushed to said bush and began liberally beating it (and the unfortunate staff member) with their weapons!
When I got really bored, I used to go down to the stables, where the kitchen was and make some pancakes, with sugar and lemon juice. This was the culinary highlight of my week!
There were several ‘incidents’ while I was on duty:
The first was when there was a party at the Rugby club across the road. One of my fellow CLOers, Jerry, walked past me at the front entrance to go home around 1am. The next thing I know, he came running back through the main gate shouting. A local yob had accosted him, and then followed him onto the ‘base’. So I come running over, ready to do my duty. I had just lined him up for a kung-fu kick that my friend Dave had shown me, when I decided that this wasn’t such a good idea and instead confronted him verbally. Anyway, it turned out that he and his friend had been to the party, had a little too much to drink and then been attacked by another group. His friend had a bloody nose, but he had run off and then returned when it was safe and was looking for someone to take it out on. I managed to calm him down somewhat and then we called the police, who naturally couldn’t care less.
The one with the bloody nose did eventually get taken off to hospital.
Another time, I was patrolling down by the Manor, and as usual had engaged stealth mode, so that I could sneak up on any would-be infiltrators and take them by surprise. I arrived at the corner of the Manor, by the garden, when I saw a shadowy figure slip across the terrace, past the goldfish ponds, to the doors of the Manor itself.
On closer inspection, I saw that there were two people, dressed in combat fatigues and balaclavas. This presented me with a dilemma. If I attempted to detain them, I was outnumbered and they might be armed. If I used my walkie-talkie to call for backup, they would hear and then run off. If I retreated outside of earshot, this might give them time to break in and possibly start a fire.
So, with the recklessness of youth, I rushed towards them, shouting for them to stop. As I approached, there a moment of comedy as the nearest one looked startled, before turning to his partner in crime, with a “what do we do now!” look. Then they both ran at full pelt across the terrace and into the undergrowth. I duly gave chase while loudly blowing my emergency whistle. The blowing of the whistle was the signal for the other nightwatcher to come running PDQ to give assistance.
At this point, I decide that it was too risky to give chase in the dark, with an unknown number of assailants possibly lying in wait, so I stopped and called in on the walkie-talkie and waited for backup. Expecting my partner Darren, to come tearing down the driveway in his haste to support me, I was rather annoyed when he eventually ambled up after several minutes, saying “What’s up?”
This incident was reported to OSA and they called the police. I wasn’t too worried though, I was pretty sure that this was a couple of local kids playing at being spies.
Two more incident happened together. It was the end of 1986 / start of 1987. There was the obligatory new year’s eve party and I had to do nightwatch!
Sometime after midnight, I walked up to the main car park and saw a rather strange sight. One of the Bournemouth mission staff, Andrea, had parked her car there and was standing by it. Nothing unusual about this, except that there was significant damage to the front nearside and the front wheel on that side had completely lost its tyre and in fact, had been ground down by dragging on the tarmac. Fully a quarter of the wheel was missing!
She claimed that she had hit a tree down the road and then driven on to the org. I’m pretty sure she had been drinking and didn’t want the police to stop her. Rather a stupid thing to do, especially considering that there was a clear trail caused by the now ruined wheel dragging along the tarmac, leading straight into the St Hill car park!
Obviously, I didn’t call the police as this would have reflected badly on the ‘church’. I really wish I had now, as I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she had struck another vehicle and then fled the scene.
Then, to cap that evening, sometime after 2am, I was down by the castle and saw the CO CLO, Steve Lake in one of the Tours cars, trying to drive it. It was pretty clear that he was the worse for alcohol, so we persuaded him to get out of the driving seat and I drove him back to our berthing at Bullards. It was only when I helped him out of the car there, and he almost fell over and retched, that I realised just how inebriated he was.
So much for Sea Org members (and OTIII) being so much more ethical than the general populace.
Rather inevitably, some months after this, he borrowed one of the org’s cars and smashed it up in an accident. He was unhurt, but we lost one of our best cars.
When the castle was renovated in the early 90s, several security cameras were installed and these have been added to in recent years. I guess this reduces the need for staff to patrol, but no doubt there are still poor buggers wandering around the grounds in the wee hours, in the freezing cold, while we are safely tucked up in bed.
Let’s spare a thought for them.
Axiom142
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G
Gottabrain
Guest
Hey Zorg,
Comm Evs suck. And the ulcers you get waiting for them, even worse.
But how cool would it have been if, instead of falling asleep by accident, you thought to yourself, "oh the heck with this, my health and my body is more important - I'm taking a nap!" And maybe you could have brought a little dog or something there "just in case" to wake you up in advance if there was any noise. And you could have had extra sleep every time you had QM duty, and if you were REALLY true to yourself, no guilt about it because how stupid was it in the first place for someone make the Church's priorities more important than your own and your health.
I so love my alarm clock on my cell phone. Just too cool never having to worry about packing one for an overnight or even a little nap when I'm sick of friends watching footy.
Comm Evs suck. And the ulcers you get waiting for them, even worse.
But how cool would it have been if, instead of falling asleep by accident, you thought to yourself, "oh the heck with this, my health and my body is more important - I'm taking a nap!" And maybe you could have brought a little dog or something there "just in case" to wake you up in advance if there was any noise. And you could have had extra sleep every time you had QM duty, and if you were REALLY true to yourself, no guilt about it because how stupid was it in the first place for someone make the Church's priorities more important than your own and your health.
I so love my alarm clock on my cell phone. Just too cool never having to worry about packing one for an overnight or even a little nap when I'm sick of friends watching footy.
The Great Zorg
Gold Meritorious Patron
There was always an air of fear hanging around. It was fueled by hearing 'entheta' (usually criticism of scio) and watching staffers abuse their powers. After all, WHAT are the qualifications for being a staffer? A heartbeat?
People were recruited, posted, they blew, others replaced them, bullying seem to be cyclic, we had all the answers to everything, were dirt poor, overworked yet we all held on as long as we could. Sooner or later, we ALL blew: every last one of us. We just carry (carried) around all that garbage in our heads, some, no doubt until they day we die. Hopefully it all erases. If we don't 'come back' because we can't and there really is no afterlife then our words will live on and carry the criticism to the detriment of $cio through our future generations. A just reward for the clams.
My QM 'duties' occurred 30 years ago... we not only didn't have cell phones back then, few of us even had computers! There was not much of a worldwide web.
G
Gottabrain
Guest
Hi Zorg,
Some of the best advice I've ever received in my life was just given to me in the past week. And it is some pretty awesome stuff.
I also had all of these horrible experiences many years ago an only in the last few months started dealing with them here.
SO - please read this thread and see what others have realised and how they've learned to overcome, deal with and eventually WIN OVER the aftereffects of Scn and especially staff life:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=16516
Some of the best advice I've ever received in my life was just given to me in the past week. And it is some pretty awesome stuff.
I also had all of these horrible experiences many years ago an only in the last few months started dealing with them here.
SO - please read this thread and see what others have realised and how they've learned to overcome, deal with and eventually WIN OVER the aftereffects of Scn and especially staff life:
http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?t=16516
The Great Zorg
Gold Meritorious Patron
The Great Zorg
Gold Meritorious Patron
You lucky dog! You had a room all to yourself?
I just remembered something I used to do
... OK, anyone here ever have an attack of the 'Devil Made Me Do It' and start reading ethics files while doing QM duty in the middle of the night? I started with my own, and after that it seemed just so easy to cross more lines of ethical conduct and personal morals and read other people's folders, to find out what others had said about me. When I did...well, that was the end of my sneaky little espionage stint: I couldn't BELIEVE what some of my co-staffers had written about me, or others! I guess those folders are stashed away "For Eyes Only" for a fairly good reason. If I had left them all opened and distributed them among the staff there would have been criminal mayhem! As it was, after reading what was "reported", well, I never looked at those people the same way after that.I LOVED Overnight Security!
B/c I bitched and complained that I couldn't afford FOOD and to travel in from Jersey everyday I got assigned to this. Was like $25 a night and I was assigned two nights.
LOVED IT!
Usually brought some rented movies and food and made a night of it in Deep 6. Was only asked to clean the public bathrooms. Had to kill the power switches in the basement. Very unfinished and all the way in the back right under 45th Street.
I always had a small travel clock (plug-in) with an alarm set for 6 am b/c the married couple who ran Day who had kids that went to some Scn day care. So, I knew I wouldn't see 'em until 8 on the nose.
I could get some sleep and go out for a cup of coffee (I had keys to the place somehow while on shift) and maybe a breakfast sandwich from the deli around the corner.
Used to climb all the way up and sit up on the roof and watch the sun come up and NYC come alive. Actually, that was the best part of working there. Occasionally, I'd have busy work but b/c I could blow through it really fast (esp letter writing or env stuffing) I'd still be laying down by 2am lol
B/c I bitched and complained that I couldn't afford FOOD and to travel in from Jersey everyday I got assigned to this. Was like $25 a night and I was assigned two nights.
LOVED IT!
Usually brought some rented movies and food and made a night of it in Deep 6. Was only asked to clean the public bathrooms. Had to kill the power switches in the basement. Very unfinished and all the way in the back right under 45th Street.
I always had a small travel clock (plug-in) with an alarm set for 6 am b/c the married couple who ran Day who had kids that went to some Scn day care. So, I knew I wouldn't see 'em until 8 on the nose.
I could get some sleep and go out for a cup of coffee (I had keys to the place somehow while on shift) and maybe a breakfast sandwich from the deli around the corner.
Used to climb all the way up and sit up on the roof and watch the sun come up and NYC come alive. Actually, that was the best part of working there. Occasionally, I'd have busy work but b/c I could blow through it really fast (esp letter writing or env stuffing) I'd still be laying down by 2am lol
exseaorgclocmoflagetc
Patron with Honors
we were savign the planet from the boogey man...dontchaknow? lolYou were issued a weapon? Lucky you: I was our weapon (yikes!).
I used to nod around 3 a.m. or so - one time I nodded again until 7:30 a.m.and that was the one day that freaking suspicious ED came in early. He was alland
and I was
What the hell did these goofs expect anyways? I chalked it up to the typical scientology absolute and total disregard and annoyance for any human condition, empowered by the SAVE THE PLANET bullshit!
Does anyone ever remember being told exactly WHO or WHAT we were saving the planet from?
Voodoo
Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
No lie. I was involved with church renos for years, and witnessed that many times. Don't know how many times I slept under my desk during those years.I heard stories of when the SP Building was being built that men were assigned shifts of working something like 36 hrs straight,sleep 12 hrs are repeat, etc..
Hard to believe that people can push their bodies to those limits, like that! (Even brainwashed people).
Luckily (because of my post) I was never made to work more than the usual 100 to 120 hour work weeks
