Mick Wenlock
Admin Emeritus (retired)
Val Lisa was the "personal SP" of a lot of staff, just so you know.
It was a glorious day at AOLA when she finally got taken off the CO post.
She was a piece of work.
whatever happened to wanda zelinsky?
Val Lisa was the "personal SP" of a lot of staff, just so you know.
It was a glorious day at AOLA when she finally got taken off the CO post.
She was a piece of work.
whatever happened to wanda zelinsky?
Yep. I have a, perhaps, overly Optimistic view that almost every scientology martinet or robot will sooner or later come to their senses and see the scientology-installed, artificial Beingness of Rondroid for what it actually is. I've had some remarkable conversations with Exes over the last 5 years and a common theme is always, "What the fck were we thinking!?" :confused2:Yes. Val Lisa was in the GO for years. All her training was toward finding "who is holding the stats down". She saw enemies everywhere. Somewhere along the line during her RPF assignment, she saw what/who she had become. Maybe just getting away from that environment helped her. In the end, I didn't hate her, I felt sorry for her. She'd lost her life and soul to Scientology. For at least a little while, she got it back, and I even liked her a little when she was on the RPF. I don't know if she left after that, but I hope so. I hope she had a few years of being a real person once she found her heart. She did find her heart - at least for a little while.
Now back to books.
When I was on staff at ASHO day at Big Blue in '81 or thereabouts, there was this one sleazy little chubby guy who was the big hero for awhile. I don't know if he was a bookstore officer, or if that was even a post in the S.O., but this guy was selling a lot of books.
Anyway, this guy was making several hundred dollars a week in commissions, which was good money at the time by any standards. It was rich beyond your wildest dreams in the S.O.
After a few months, this guy was discovered to have been just deducting money from people's prepaid services accounts, and taking the books and stashing them in some remote empty room in the bowels of Big Blue. He didn't get caught until someone asked someone what the room full of books down in the basement was for, and did they know they were getting water damaged?
Needless to say, this guy vanished, no doubt off to RPF hell for his sins. The thing was, we had to sit there at crew musters for weeks and weeks listening to this guy get congratulated for being such a great book seller getting a ten percent kick back while most of us got paid 17 bucks a week if we were lucky. I remember being mad at this, and thinking it was so unfair. But, of course, I'd learned by that time not to 'natter'.
"What's particularly unconscionable is that the company used unsupported health-benefit claims to tout an expensive product to consumers in clear violation of an FTC order," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "This case violates the basic laws of advertising. If a business makes a claim about a product or service, it had better have evidence to support the claim." Bernstein expressed her appreciation to the Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Litigation and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee for litigating this action at the Commission's request.
Yep. I have a, perhaps, overly Optimistic view that almost every scientology martinet or robot will sooner or later come to their senses and see the scientology-installed, artificial Beingness of Rondroid for what it actually is. I've had some remarkable conversations with Exes over the last 5 years and a common theme is always, "What the fck were we thinking!?" :confused2:
Yep. I have a, perhaps, overly Optimistic view that almost every scientology martinet or robot will sooner or later come to their senses and see the scientology-installed, artificial Beingness of Rondroid for what it actually is. I've had some remarkable conversations with Exes over the last 5 years and a common theme is always, "What the fck were we thinking!?" :confused2:
Thank you all for the above posts painting the pictures. It felt so good to read them as I could feel the craziness.
I simply did mission and org staff for the bulk of the 80's....and those damn books and that damn call in crap.
I remember going to FLB once and LA twice and seeing all the people running around.
Us lowlies held you in high regard and feared you.
Man it was all so crazy. I really appreciate the above stories.
And my own 2 cents. When I was public I had my APs used for books, years later I realized what a downer that was for the mission as it was the org who sold me the books and billed the mission for the money. I didn't realize how broke the outfits where till I was staff. I didn't need the damn books...I was on staff at the org, books where everywhere. I did say no, but they wanted to use that money and eventually got it.
And while on org staff I personally watched an FBO go through a card file, that's a paper card file, and choose someone and their card to "buy" them something to get one of the income stats up on a Thurs. I knew it was wrong and I knew he knew it by the way he behaved. I don't know if it was sop, but I think it was.
It really hurts looking back on it. Seemed upset was all around, and when your in the middle of a little area that's just going crazy, I don't know, I guess one could feel responsible for the entire mess. There were smiles and happy times for sure, but the constant life threatening ptp's. And to be all for nothing afterall. Sucks.
Hearing you guy's talk is good. I know there are many threads in here telling stories but I really enjoyed this one about the books and call in and being posted here and there and everywhere.
So that was the progression - thanks! The post became D/CO D&E while I was on or left the RPF. I think Call In Exec Int became a post while I was on the RPF - I believe the post was created while I was running the International Call In for the LRH IS DEAD event. That was my official title while I was pretending to not be an RPFer and ordering everyone to get people to the event. They must have kept it as a post at Int level, but I'm not sure of that. I didn't report to anybody but ED INT or missionaires when I did that call-in.
Hey, I have a question for those who have done call-in.
This board has greatly increased my (already high) empathy for those who end up on reg and dissem posts. As awful as it is to be on the receiving end of this stuff, it is worse to be perpetrating it. I body routed once, ever (and got somebody in who eventually joined the SO, I am sorry, wherever you may be, I hope you are all right). I hated disseminating to friends and strangers.
My question is, once in a while I get a call from somebody at an org. They are rare enough now that they feel like opportunities, I don't feel like yelling xenuxenuxenu any more. I can't help remembering that the penny dropped for Tory Magoo when her enemy was kind to her.
Any ideas for making a difference in the life of a caller-in?
Oh wow, that's a blast form the past! Wanda Zelinsky (Madias) and her mother, Joanne Zelinsky, blew AOLA staff around 1981 and were never found or seen again.
I liked them both.
Hey, I have a question for those who have done call-in.
This board has greatly increased my (already high) empathy for those who end up on reg and dissem posts. As awful as it is to be on the receiving end of this stuff, it is worse to be perpetrating it. I body routed once, ever (and got somebody in who eventually joined the SO, I am sorry, wherever you may be, I hope you are all right). I hated disseminating to friends and strangers.
My question is, once in a while I get a call from somebody at an org. They are rare enough now that they feel like opportunities, I don't feel like yelling xenuxenuxenu any more. I can't help remembering that the penny dropped for Tory Magoo when her enemy was kind to her.
Any ideas for making a difference in the life of a caller-in?
Had to be later than 1981, because I joined staff in 1982 and they were still there then.
I'm a bit hazy on the year they left, but it was early 80's and they blew together. My mistake on their names though. It was Wanda and Joanne ZINKE. Not Zelinsky. Same Wanda or no?
Yup; thought the same thing. "Wasn't it ZINKE?"
Orglodyte, you sure have a lot of compassion. What a nice post.
I would LOVE to share some of my old call-in methods for getting the other person on the phone to talk to me like a real person. Thanks for asking.
Openers can be things like, "How's your day going?" (I still say this to telemarketers. They appreciate being talked to like real people)
or something only slightly comical, said warmly, like, "Oh, is it that time of the week already?"
or if the person is sounding rushed, stubborn, persistent and communication is one-way, "It seems we're both under a bit of a pressure right now, can you call me back at a time more convenient to both of us, when you've got a spare few minutes to chat?"
The first time you speak to that caller, you should just establish repoire, nothing more. Talk about little, happy things in your life and try to get them to share little, happy personal things in theirs. Hobbies. Gardens. Pets. Relationships. Vacations. Like the person and try to get them to like you and feel safe talking to you. You want the caller to smile at the end of the call and feel good about that call (without giving money or going to an event or something). Then establish another time for another call in a week or so.
In time, you'll be buddies of a sort. You'll be that caller's moment of pleasure in the midst of organisational chaos and pressure. :wink2:
Little by little, you can bring up the important things. Start with less objectional ones and work your way up. Remember, every bit of "entheta" about the church will upset the person, so you want to calm them down. They are upset someone blew? "He'll be alright, he's got his family and you know, maybe that's where his heart is. Staff/Sea Org/Scientology isn't right for everyone. Everyone has to go their own way." Something like that, with a little joke at the end. Laughter releases tension, so any time you can make a joke and get the person to laugh, even a little, you can get a little deeper into the heavier issues.
I hope that helps. There are also some threads on here and on WWP if you put keywords into the Search, with lots of wonderful ideas of things to say to COS callers.
I suggest reading Steve Hassan. I really like his approach to dealing with culties. When I've had time, I do try to connect and I always say if they change their mind that there are people out here doing well. I usually mention how many OTs have left and that there are a lot of nice folks, etc.
Total asshats I have just kind of sort of not bothered as much. Also depends on what I've been doing when they call.