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A small piece of the story-me as an OOT

HappyGirl

Gold Meritorious Patron
I just found this thread. Wow. Pretty horrific read. Sky, if you're still around, I'm glad you escaped!!

They would make us pose for photos, everyone of course plastering on fake smiles and looking especially enthusiastic. (Look at us, how exhilarated we are to be at Flag! We're not going to have any time to eat, and our Metering Course Supervisors are all going to be really upset at us, but yay! We're at Flag! We haven't seen our families for months or years but it's so wonderful to just be here in the mecca of perfection! No really, we're happy. Honest!)
They did this to public in the course rooms, too. All their promo is fake.
 

cantsay

Patron Meritorious
I know this thread is probably dead and gone, but it reminded me of an incident where a recently recruited staff was sent to Flag as an OOT. The org forgot to mention to her at the time that they didnt have the money for ALL the flights to get her there. Next thing she knows, she is stuck living in an airport (Hong Kong I think) for days and days, with no money for food or a hotel, until the org could bring in enough GI to pay for the rest of the flights.

Her partner was FURIOUS. And at the time, I agreed with him, although I didnt have the guts to say anything to the morons that did that to her. She blew shortly after.

I have to admit, being an OTT is one of the more horrific experiences for staff (I did the Continental version). Like EPF for Class Vs.

Emme - I remember when that stupid record came out and we had to sing at muster for months (1999-2002 sometime? If youre talking about an earlier one, they did it again!). Goddamn, that was rediculous.
 

Jimmymac

Patron
Emme - I remember when that stupid record came out and we had to sing at muster for months (1999-2002 sometime? If youre talking about an earlier one, they did it again!). Goddamn, that was rediculous.

I am trying to remember the name of that stupid fucking album. It tortured me for a year played non stop by sci friends, flatmates etc. I do remember having to listen to it at muster don't ever remeber having to sing it but maybe it was just so painful I blocked it out :D
 

Takin Time

Patron with Honors
I am trying to remember the name of that stupid fucking album. It tortured me for a year played non stop by sci friends, flatmates etc. I do remember having to listen to it at muster don't ever remeber having to sing it but maybe it was just so painful I blocked it out :D
The Road to Freedom?
State of Mind?
The Joy of Creating? (the one with that kooky lady flying away in the bubble)
 

cantsay

Patron Meritorious
We only did it for a couple of months, I was so relieved when it stopped. For ages we had to have LRHs music playing in the org AT ALL TIMES.... there was always some fad pushed on us by upper management.
 

Jimmymac

Patron
We only did it for a couple of months, I was so relieved when it stopped. For ages we had to have LRHs music playing in the org AT ALL TIMES.... there was always some fad pushed on us by upper management.

It was sooooo theta and up stat etc though. You are showing your suppressive tendencies. Either that or you had an MU in one of the songs, otherwise you would have thought it was better than mozart and the beatles combined:D :D
 

Moomin

Patron
Fantastic Story!

Hi Sky,

I have just read your story and found it very moving. I too know EXACTLY what you mean as my experience as an OOT was hellish.

J
 

Nicki

Patron with Honors
When were you there Sky?
This stuff is news to me...and very interesting...good your writing about it.
Nicki

In all my lurking in the past few months, I don't think I have ever run across anyone talking about their experience as an Outer Org Trainee.

For those not familiar with this training program, what happens is a Class V Org decides to (or is forced to) send one of their staff members to train at Flag or a Continental Training Org. They get through their training program and return to their Class V org as "Flag-Trained!!" Generally it is to train for some kind of technical post, i.e.: auditor, case supervisor, course supervisor; although sometimes they send people for other training as well.

I went to Flag as an Outer Org Trainee and it was probably the first truly awful experience I had as a Scientologist. At my home org it was very friendly and all about helping yourself and others become more able, yada yada yada. We might have been delusional but we were happily delusional.

So I got talked into going to Flag. "Wow!" everyone said, "You'll love Flag!"

The Flag promo insisted it was the "Friendliest Place on Earth" and "Happiest Place on Earth."

I was really excited! I hopped on a plane as soon as I was approved and took off to Clearwater. The flight my org could afford was a red-eye with quite a long layover, so I ended up arriving without having slept for over 24 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane--too excited!) and the only food in my belly was airline peanuts and OJ.

Well, I wasn't much of a traveler and it took me awhile once I'd arrived to figure out how to get from the airport to Flag, but I finally got a shuttle and was heading to downtown Clearwater.

The rest of the day is kind of blurry. I attribute that to the lack of food and sleep thing, as well as being really confused and lost.

Basically I was put on a routing form and told, "go here" "go there", get on this bus and find this person and get them to sign this and then go onto another place.

For anyone who's never been to Flag, it is actually made up of several different buildings in Clearwater. Some of the buildings are just down the street or across the street from other buildings, and some are further away. They made the OOTs (Outer Org Trainees) ride shuttles between ALL the buildings. Even if it was a one minute walk away, you were supposed to take a shuttle. I got so freaking turned around I had no idea which direction was what, I couldn't figure out why people kept telling me to catch a van to such and such a place and I'd get on the van and tell the driver where I was going and it seemed to me like he'd go around the block and drop me off in the same place I started. I was getting SO frustrated.

And everyone acts like you're in their way or putting them out if you dare to ask them to help you figure out what you're supposed to be doing or where you're supposed to be going.

(Later I would figure out that had to do with the pressure put on everyone to get through their training. I became one of those people myself for a little while. That's probably one of the biggest things that bothers me about being a Scientologist. I WAS one of the nasty ones for a time. I was completely unsympathetic and unreasonable and I had contempt for a lot of people. I look back at that and it makes me nauseous.)

Anyway, I finally got some food and sleep after several hours of trying to get through this routing form. I almost decided to go home right then--I can't tell you how many times I looked back at that and wished I'd just hopped on a plane home. But no, I wanted to be Flag-Trained! So I stayed.

I just noticed how much I've written about this. God, there's a lot to say about it. I think at this point I will focus just one particularly nasty aspect of my Flag experience.

The absolute worst thing for me about being an OOT was WORK STUDY. It should have been called "slaves for the FC."

One thing I probably have to clarify here. Flag in Clearwater isn't considered just one org. The two orgs I dealt with were Flag Service Org and Flag Crew (I don't know, there might be other orgs as well). Flag Service Org was the org that delivered training and processing. Flag Crew was the org that provided all the food, berthing, transportation, etc. for the staff and public and OOTs.

When my org at home didn't bring in enough money to pay for my room and board with Flag Crew that week, I had to do Work Study. Now, I was warned about Work Study before I went to Flag, but the people who told me about it made it sound like no big deal. Just helping out occasionally to "keep my exchange in."

Well, it turned out that to pay Flag Crew back for my room and board (which consisted of sharing an old moldy motel room with five other trainees that I didn't know, and eating my three meals a day that were prepared for 1500 of us and didn't involve much variety) I had to work for them about 35 hours a week, doing whatever grunt job that no one else in Flag Crew wanted to do. We often worked alongside the EPFers, although at the time I didn't know what the EPF was.

In the mornings they would gather all of us together who had non-paying orgs, and tell us how awful our orgs were that they didn't care enough about us to make enough money to pay for us to get through our training. (Since we were doing Work Study about five hours a day, every day, it took a big chunk of time out of our study time. If you were an OOT doing Work Study, it took almost twice as long for you to get through your training. That's a lot of time when you're looking at training programs that are for a year or two.) They would make us take turns calling our orgs and telling them they had to be "Tone 40" about getting us off Work Study, they would make us write Knowledge Reports on our orgs for not paying it. They would read us LRH quotes to get us all riled up about it, and make us chant them.

Now, I loved my org. I knew that they were doing their best to just keep the power and water on. At first I refused to write the reports. But after weeks of listening to how much our orgs were letting us, and therefore the planet, down; I started to kind of resent everyone back home. They didn't have to do Work Study... they didn't care that I did! They were committing a vile disservice by not making it go right to get that $120 to Flag every week!

I can't believe I let it get to me.

So after the 30-40 minutes of this BS, we would have to go with our masters for the day. They weren't actually called this but that's pretty much what they were. Sometimes we'd get lined up and then the staff of the Flag Crew that needed workers would come over and point to us, "I want that Work Study" (yes, they actually called us "Work Studies") or "I'm supposed to get three Work Studies today, those three will do." It was one of the most degrading experiences of my life. I felt like a slave on the block.

You would have to do whatever work they told you to. Most of the work I did was cleaning; cleaning the outsides of the motels, cleaning laundry, cleaning hotel rooms, cleaning dishes. There were other jobs and sometimes you would get in with one of the FC staff and have a nice steady place for a little bit, but then someone else would need you somewhere else and you'd get taken away to work for them. Or your org would manage to pay for you for a week and when you were back the next week someone would have taken your place.

Boy, this has turned out to be a lot longer than I expected when I started writing. I think I will call this my "Work Study" installment of Life as an Outer Org Trainee.

Anyway, I had read a lot of accounts of what it was like for those in the Sea Org, and I just wanted to contribute a different angle on being part of it without being part of it.

Sky
 

Nicki

Patron with Honors
When were you there Sky?
This stuff is news to me...and very interesting...good you're writing about it.
Nicki

In all my lurking in the past fe months, I don't think I have ever run across anyone talking about their experience as an Outer Org Trainee.

For those not familiar with this training program, what happens is a Class V Org decides to (or is forced to) send one of their staff members to train at Flag or a Continental Training Org. They get through their training program and return to their Class V org as "Flag-Trained!!" Generally it is to train for some kind of technical post, i.e.: auditor, case supervisor, course supervisor; although sometimes they send people for other training as well.

I went to Flag as an Outer Org Trainee and it was probably the first truly awful experience I had as a Scientologist. At my home org it was very friendly and all about helping yourself and others become more able, yada yada yada. We might have been delusional but we were happily delusional.

So I got talked into going to Flag. "Wow!" everyone said, "You'll love Flag!"

The Flag promo insisted it was the "Friendliest Place on Earth" and "Happiest Place on Earth."

I was really excited! I hopped on a plane as soon as I was approved and took off to Clearwater. The flight my org could afford was a red-eye with quite a long layover, so I ended up arriving without having slept for over 24 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane--too excited!) and the only food in my belly was airline peanuts and OJ.

Well, I wasn't much of a traveler and it took me awhile once I'd arrived to figure out how to get from the airport to Flag, but I finally got a shuttle and was heading to downtown Clearwater.

The rest of the day is kind of blurry. I attribute that to the lack of food and sleep thing, as well as being really confused and lost.

Basically I was put on a routing form and told, "go here" "go there", get on this bus and find this person and get them to sign this and then go onto another place.

For anyone who's never been to Flag, it is actually made up of several different buildings in Clearwater. Some of the buildings are just down the street or across the street from other buildings, and some are further away. They made the OOTs (Outer Org Trainees) ride shuttles between ALL the buildings. Even if it was a one minute walk away, you were supposed to take a shuttle. I got so freaking turned around I had no idea which direction was what, I couldn't figure out why people kept telling me to catch a van to such and such a place and I'd get on the van and tell the driver where I was going and it seemed to me like he'd go around the block and drop me off in the same place I started. I was getting SO frustrated.

And everyone acts like you're in their way or putting them out if you dare to ask them to help you figure out what you're supposed to be doing or where you're supposed to be going.

(Later I would figure out that had to do with the pressure put on everyone to get through their training. I became one of those people myself for a little while. That's probably one of the biggest things that bothers me about being a Scientologist. I WAS one of the nasty ones for a time. I was completely unsympathetic and unreasonable and I had contempt for a lot of people. I look back at that and it makes me nauseous.)

Anyway, I finally got some food and sleep after several hours of trying to get through this routing form. I almost decided to go home right then--I can't tell you how many times I looked back at that and wished I'd just hopped on a plane home. But no, I wanted to be Flag-Trained! So I stayed.

I just noticed how much I've written about this. God, there's a lot to say about it. I think at this point I will focus just one particularly nasty aspect of my Flag experience.

The absolute worst thing for me about being an OOT was WORK STUDY. It should have been called "slaves for the FC."

One thing I probably have to clarify here. Flag in Clearwater isn't considered just one org. The two orgs I dealt with were Flag Service Org and Flag Crew (I don't know, there might be other orgs as well). Flag Service Org was the org that delivered training and processing. Flag Crew was the org that provided all the food, berthing, transportation, etc. for the staff and public and OOTs.

When my org at home didn't bring in enough money to pay for my room and board with Flag Crew that week, I had to do Work Study. Now, I was warned about Work Study before I went to Flag, but the people who told me about it made it sound like no big deal. Just helping out occasionally to "keep my exchange in."

Well, it turned out that to pay Flag Crew back for my room and board (which consisted of sharing an old moldy motel room with five other trainees that I didn't know, and eating my three meals a day that were prepared for 1500 of us and didn't involve much variety) I had to work for them about 35 hours a week, doing whatever grunt job that no one else in Flag Crew wanted to do. We often worked alongside the EPFers, although at the time I didn't know what the EPF was.

In the mornings they would gather all of us together who had non-paying orgs, and tell us how awful our orgs were that they didn't care enough about us to make enough money to pay for us to get through our training. (Since we were doing Work Study about five hours a day, every day, it took a big chunk of time out of our study time. If you were an OOT doing Work Study, it took almost twice as long for you to get through your training. That's a lot of time when you're looking at training programs that are for a year or two.) They would make us take turns calling our orgs and telling them they had to be "Tone 40" about getting us off Work Study, they would make us write Knowledge Reports on our orgs for not paying it. They would read us LRH quotes to get us all riled up about it, and make us chant them.

Now, I loved my org. I knew that they were doing their best to just keep the power and water on. At first I refused to write the reports. But after weeks of listening to how much our orgs were letting us, and therefore the planet, down; I started to kind of resent everyone back home. They didn't have to do Work Study... they didn't care that I did! They were committing a vile disservice by not making it go right to get that $120 to Flag every week!

I can't believe I let it get to me.

So after the 30-40 minutes of this BS, we would have to go with our masters for the day. They weren't actually called this but that's pretty much what they were. Sometimes we'd get lined up and then the staff of the Flag Crew that needed workers would come over and point to us, "I want that Work Study" (yes, they actually called us "Work Studies") or "I'm supposed to get three Work Studies today, those three will do." It was one of the most degrading experiences of my life. I felt like a slave on the block.

You would have to do whatever work they told you to. Most of the work I did was cleaning; cleaning the outsides of the motels, cleaning laundry, cleaning hotel rooms, cleaning dishes. There were other jobs and sometimes you would get in with one of the FC staff and have a nice steady place for a little bit, but then someone else would need you somewhere else and you'd get taken away to work for them. Or your org would manage to pay for you for a week and when you were back the next week someone would have taken your place.

Boy, this has turned out to be a lot longer than I expected when I started writing. I think I will call this my "Work Study" installment of Life as an Outer Org Trainee.

Anyway, I had read a lot of accounts of what it was like for those in the Sea Org, and I just wanted to contribute a different angle on being part of it without being part of it.

Sky
 

Sky

Patron with Honors
I was an OOT at Flag from Summer 2001 to Summer 2002. So things have probably changed there a little--but I would guess not much.

I just realized that it's been a couple of years since I started this thread. I had to read through it again to remember everything that I wrote about.

I'm happy that I've been able to move on with my life, and although my experiences in Scientology will probably always have at least a little bit of traumatic impact on my existence, for the most part I feel like I am recovered.

Yay!:happydance:
 

vumba

Danielle Chamberlin
In all my lurking in the past few months, I don't think I have ever run across anyone talking about their experience as an Outer Org Trainee.

For those not familiar with this training program, what happens is a Class V Org decides to (or is forced to) send one of their staff members to train at Flag or a Continental Training Org. They get through their training program and return to their Class V org as "Flag-Trained!!" Generally it is to train for some kind of technical post, i.e.: auditor, case supervisor, course supervisor; although sometimes they send people for other training as well.

I went to Flag as an Outer Org Trainee and it was probably the first truly awful experience I had as a Scientologist. At my home org it was very friendly and all about helping yourself and others become more able, yada yada yada. We might have been delusional but we were happily delusional.

So I got talked into going to Flag. "Wow!" everyone said, "You'll love Flag!"

The Flag promo insisted it was the "Friendliest Place on Earth" and "Happiest Place on Earth."


That really sucks and I feel for you. You mention the mouldy motel rooms... they were icky when I lived in them in 1980, so they must have been rank when you were in them. Did they still have heavy shagpile carpets?

Your work study sounded more like RPF! Glad you're out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Koot

Patron with Honors
OOGs

Thanks very much for sharing this story. Very interesting indeed, and I think the same experiences occurred no matter what continent one is on.

In our case, it was when the whole KTL LOC push came through, and all orgs HAD to have KTL supervisors. Two staff at our org were selected to go to Flag, and we all envied them to go to the Mecca of Scientology.

When they returned, they looked tired and stressed, and were also mostly quite tight-lipped about the experience. One was a good friend of mine, and I cornered [the person] eventually - and all they could say was that it was WILD. Having to sleep in mass-packed dormitries, having to find own money to pay for basics, and a non-stop pace to squeeze out the maximum training in the minimum amount of time, so as not to waste any costs on mere staff members. :eek:

The person eventually admitted that it was not what [the person] was expecting at all. Which was as close as it could get to that person admitting they were rattled by the experience.

Even at that time, when I was still in and winning, I was immensely bothered by that account. Flag was supposed to be the Holy Grail of perfection - I had pictured upstat efficiency, upstat setting, and very uptone staff, speed of particle flow in a good way. The image of mass-packed dormitries, and having to scramble for money for basic needs did not fit with my idea of upstat at ALL.

Interesting similarity too - because our org was also always getting hammered by "uplines" for not being upstat enough, not having enough money. The telephone lines were cut a few times for non-payment of bills, for example. I remember quite a few staff in the org, whenever something came from up-lines that was even more demanding at usual - they would roll their eyes. One time, we were given an instruction to kludge central files, when it had been done the week before - stupid things like that. In our org, there was definitely a sense of us taking Hubbard's tech and creating something great, but a general sense that "up-lines" was a little insane. The general feeling was that up-lines were far enough away, so they would be put up with, but they could be a royal pain in the a** sometimes.

When the instruction came down for us to have to clap and cheer LRH's picture after each muster, we all just laughed. None of us could help ourselves. But we did it. We had to. However, none of us could look at each other while doing it, or we would burst out laughing, and have to put all of ourselves into ethics!

- jodie
Well, I was there in the KTL / LOC push myself. I was from PTLF at ITO on Hollywood Blvd. In short, I will say, find your own way from housing(barracks at WUS to ITO, some miles away) Run down stairs to lunch, Dinner??? , I forget!!! 14 hrs a day 6 days a week, Sunday, class at noon!! You get to do laundry. Very non stop go go go. I did it with gusto. It was grueling but THAT was the game. Took a shower one morning in a shower with a backed up drain and got a case of athletes foot that went septic. Was kept in "isolation" till the fever came down. You think I was PTS!!~!!!! I finished the KTL training and was ready to go back to PTLF. Kind of a badge of honor. I toughed it out!! Oops, , new rundown, Get busy boy. LOC. "You should be honored to be able to do this" Alright let's go for it, lots of good data but can you say OVERRUN!! I won't go into the details right now. One good thing was that while on LOC I was auditing as an intern at ITO and did comp my IV internship. Sorry Gemma, I just HAD to get out of there. Well, that's about it. In brief!!!!!!!!
 
Because I really had good wins on the KTL the LOC was in my view a joke. Not in the same league at all. To some extent, I think, setting Hubbard's tweak - the modifiers - aside, it was one of their best products.

Mimsey
 

strativarius

Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
These situations certainly do sound awful! It does make me wonder about who in the organization has been benefitting from all of this and how.
I haven't read any of this thread and I don't know what the subject matter is, but you don't need to do that in order to answer your question IMO. Whatever the circumstances, you can rest assured that the deprivation, the long hours of thankless work for little or no pay and the poor food and accommodation most staff and sea org members have to endure are for the benefit of scumbags like David Miscavige and his cronies at the very top of the organisation, and before him, the biggest scumbag of all, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard!

Clearing the planet has got nothing to do with it, they are simply there to enrich themselves and that is the end of it.
 

Bill

Gold Meritorious Patron
I haven't read any of this thread and I don't know what the subject matter is, but you don't need to do that in order to answer your question IMO. Whatever the circumstances, you can rest assured that the deprivation, the long hours of thankless work for little or no pay and the poor food and accommodation most staff and sea org members have to endure are for the benefit of scumbags like David Miscavige and his cronies at the very top of the organisation, and before him, the biggest scumbag of all, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard!

Clearing the planet has got nothing to do with it, they are simply there to enrich themselves and that is the end of it.
Yes, making money is a big part of that, but LRH got and Miscavige gets a huge amount of psychopathic pleasure from degrading, abusing and debasing others. This was/is pure pleasure to them.
 

vumba

Danielle Chamberlin
In all my lurking in the past few months, I don't think I have ever run across anyone talking about their experience as an Outer Org Trainee.

For those not familiar with this training program, what happens is a Class V Org decides to (or is forced to) send one of their staff members to train at Flag or a Continental Training Org. They get through their training program and return to their Class V org as "Flag-Trained!!" Generally it is to train for some kind of technical post, i.e.: auditor, case supervisor, course supervisor; although sometimes they send people for other training as well.

I went to Flag as an Outer Org Trainee and it was probably the first truly awful experience I had as a Scientologist. At my home org it was very friendly and all about helping yourself and others become more able, yada yada yada. We might have been delusional but we were happily delusional.

So I got talked into going to Flag. "Wow!" everyone said, "You'll love Flag!"

The Flag promo insisted it was the "Friendliest Place on Earth" and "Happiest Place on Earth."

I was really excited! I hopped on a plane as soon as I was approved and took off to Clearwater. The flight my org could afford was a red-eye with quite a long layover, so I ended up arriving without having slept for over 24 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane--too excited!) and the only food in my belly was airline peanuts and OJ.

Well, I wasn't much of a traveler and it took me awhile once I'd arrived to figure out how to get from the airport to Flag, but I finally got a shuttle and was heading to downtown Clearwater.

The rest of the day is kind of blurry. I attribute that to the lack of food and sleep thing, as well as being really confused and lost.

Basically I was put on a routing form and told, "go here" "go there", get on this bus and find this person and get them to sign this and then go onto another place.

For anyone who's never been to Flag, it is actually made up of several different buildings in Clearwater. Some of the buildings are just down the street or across the street from other buildings, and some are further away. They made the OOTs (Outer Org Trainees) ride shuttles between ALL the buildings. Even if it was a one minute walk away, you were supposed to take a shuttle. I got so freaking turned around I had no idea which direction was what, I couldn't figure out why people kept telling me to catch a van to such and such a place and I'd get on the van and tell the driver where I was going and it seemed to me like he'd go around the block and drop me off in the same place I started. I was getting SO frustrated.

And everyone acts like you're in their way or putting them out if you dare to ask them to help you figure out what you're supposed to be doing or where you're supposed to be going.

(Later I would figure out that had to do with the pressure put on everyone to get through their training. I became one of those people myself for a little while. That's probably one of the biggest things that bothers me about being a Scientologist. I WAS one of the nasty ones for a time. I was completely unsympathetic and unreasonable and I had contempt for a lot of people. I look back at that and it makes me nauseous.)

Anyway, I finally got some food and sleep after several hours of trying to get through this routing form. I almost decided to go home right then--I can't tell you how many times I looked back at that and wished I'd just hopped on a plane home. But no, I wanted to be Flag-Trained! So I stayed.

I just noticed how much I've written about this. God, there's a lot to say about it. I think at this point I will focus just one particularly nasty aspect of my Flag experience.

The absolute worst thing for me about being an OOT was WORK STUDY. It should have been called "slaves for the FC."

One thing I probably have to clarify here. Flag in Clearwater isn't considered just one org. The two orgs I dealt with were Flag Service Org and Flag Crew (I don't know, there might be other orgs as well). Flag Service Org was the org that delivered training and processing. Flag Crew was the org that provided all the food, berthing, transportation, etc. for the staff and public and OOTs.

When my org at home didn't bring in enough money to pay for my room and board with Flag Crew that week, I had to do Work Study. Now, I was warned about Work Study before I went to Flag, but the people who told me about it made it sound like no big deal. Just helping out occasionally to "keep my exchange in."

Well, it turned out that to pay Flag Crew back for my room and board (which consisted of sharing an old moldy motel room with five other trainees that I didn't know, and eating my three meals a day that were prepared for 1500 of us and didn't involve much variety) I had to work for them about 35 hours a week, doing whatever grunt job that no one else in Flag Crew wanted to do. We often worked alongside the EPFers, although at the time I didn't know what the EPF was.

In the mornings they would gather all of us together who had non-paying orgs, and tell us how awful our orgs were that they didn't care enough about us to make enough money to pay for us to get through our training. (Since we were doing Work Study about five hours a day, every day, it took a big chunk of time out of our study time. If you were an OOT doing Work Study, it took almost twice as long for you to get through your training. That's a lot of time when you're looking at training programs that are for a year or two.) They would make us take turns calling our orgs and telling them they had to be "Tone 40" about getting us off Work Study, they would make us write Knowledge Reports on our orgs for not paying it. They would read us LRH quotes to get us all riled up about it, and make us chant them.

Now, I loved my org. I knew that they were doing their best to just keep the power and water on. At first I refused to write the reports. But after weeks of listening to how much our orgs were letting us, and therefore the planet, down; I started to kind of resent everyone back home. They didn't have to do Work Study... they didn't care that I did! They were committing a vile disservice by not making it go right to get that $120 to Flag every week!

I can't believe I let it get to me.

So after the 30-40 minutes of this BS, we would have to go with our masters for the day. They weren't actually called this but that's pretty much what they were. Sometimes we'd get lined up and then the staff of the Flag Crew that needed workers would come over and point to us, "I want that Work Study" (yes, they actually called us "Work Studies") or "I'm supposed to get three Work Studies today, those three will do." It was one of the most degrading experiences of my life. I felt like a slave on the block.

You would have to do whatever work they told you to. Most of the work I did was cleaning; cleaning the outsides of the motels, cleaning laundry, cleaning hotel rooms, cleaning dishes. There were other jobs and sometimes you would get in with one of the FC staff and have a nice steady place for a little bit, but then someone else would need you somewhere else and you'd get taken away to work for them. Or your org would manage to pay for you for a week and when you were back the next week someone would have taken your place.

Boy, this has turned out to be a lot longer than I expected when I started writing. I think I will call this my "Work Study" installment of Life as an Outer Org Trainee.

Anyway, I had read a lot of accounts of what it was like for those in the Sea Org, and I just wanted to contribute a different angle on being part of it without being part of it.

Sky
How awful Sky! I went to Flag to do my OEC/FEBC back in 1980, and thank goodness my .org paid or I would have been in the same boat I’m guessing, if it had started by then? I wasn’t aware of it?
 
I gather that in Scientology the structure is as such that the money goes to the top; and that the people farther down in the organization are seen as a source of cheap labor basically, right?
Do you think that there is ANY possibility that the Church of Scientology might become a good organization if there were better people running it? I mean, from what I have seen, most of the members and former members of the church do seem to be quite above average.
 

Bill

Gold Meritorious Patron
I gather that in Scientology the structure is as such that the money goes to the top; and that the people farther down in the organization are seen as a source of cheap labor basically, right?
Do you think that there is ANY possibility that the Church of Scientology might become a good organization if there were better people running it? I mean, from what I have seen, most of the members and former members of the church do seem to be quite above average.
As I see it, the abuses are built right into the organization's structure and policies. Given that one must follow Hubbard's policies without deviation, I don't see any good every coming from the church. (micro)Managing by statistics, draconian ethics, rpf, money-money-money policies, and the built-in fraud of no-results mean that the organization will always be abusive.

In addition, the hierarchy command structure, which was designed to protect Hubbard from everything, ensure no one ever questioned Hubbard and guaranteed absolute obedience to Hubbard ensured that a psychopath would always do anything to be at the top. Anyone decent near the top didn't have a chance and never would.
 
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