Oh indeedy we were required to floss. After proper instruction by a FWC19 who had been a dental hygienist in a previous life the lists went up and we had to floss each night before beddy-bye and be sure to check our names off. For bless patrol, I was paired both times with a 19th, so could not do what I wanted to do, which was just check the list and check off anybody who hadn't checked themselves. I was absolutely outraged by this invasion of privacy. I also didn't like having my room inspected, including in the drawers to make sure the clothing was properly stored therein.
Our shifts begane at 11:30 PM and ended at I think about 5:00 AM, maybe 4:00 AM. At any rate, we got enough time to go lie down on our bed and drift off to sleep before presenting ourselves, brighteyed, bushy-tailed and fresh as a daisy at breakfast.
There was no excuse for it. Sleep deprivation doesn't make you a stronger believer, it just makes you crazy and tired.
Do you remember when the rules evolved into this - if you found that someone had not checked their name (that they had flossed), then you were supposed to wake up that person and THEY had to do your Bless Patrol shift for you? This was about the time that all the "confrontation" exhortations were popular. Personally, I never had the heart to wake someone up and require them to do my shift for me. But a lot of Corps actually did this.
It always seemed to me that BLESS Patrol should find a way to BLESS our Corps brothers and sisters, so I started using my BP shifts to pick up whatever lost items I found as I did rounds. Of course everyone had our names written on every single item we owned, so it was easy to match the item with the owner. I would hang a lost jacket on its owner's doorknob, or stack a kid's missing school book just outside his door. We had a little chest to put lost-and-found things into at the Indiana Campus, so I also kept myself from boredom on BP shifts, sorting through the stuff in this chest, and delivering these to their rightful owners too. Heck, it made the night a little more interesting, and it was fun to watch their faces in the morning when they'd discover their long-lost belongings as they opened their doors.
Of course, the Spirit of Returned Items was eventually discerned and cast out of me. (But not before I had "contaminated" several others with the same mode of night-time entertainment). The world now calls such things "Random Acts of Kindness". God forbid that Bless Patrol might actually bless anybody.
What if you SAID you flossed, but didn't? Would they do random testing to make sure you really flossed? 4AM BLAM 3 people break into your bedroom and 2 hold your mouth open while the other flosses you to make sure you don't bleed. Did they do that?
I only did it twice and neither time was I told to make the unflossed serve the flossed in that manner. The first time I did it with a guy who actually wrote down the names of the unflossed, gently tapped on their door and asked them, then checked them off.
The second time was with a legalistic little WC 19th lady who made sure everything and everybody was decent and in order. I think she actually woke up the unflossed and made them go check their names off. I should have gotten there first.
Hey, I can appreciate the benefits of nightly flossing. However, I think anyone waiting until midnight or later to ask me had I flossed would have deserved a knuckle sandiwch - floss after eating THIS!
Of course little wuss that I was, I would have figured God would tell the Great Rev WC if I lied about flossing, and I'd get struck by lightning in the lunchroom or something.
So, Shifra, I'm not much help. I thought the whole floss chart was pretty ridiculous. I'm pretty sure people lied and got away with it. And No JohnIAm no one did a gum exam on the potentially unflossed to make sure they didn't bleed. I'm surprised, though.
The funniest thing was going into Uncle Harry hall and seeing Floss hung up to dry so it could be reused. Guess our $20 a month spending limit really wasn't enough for some folks. I wonder what all the Bars in Emporia thought when they had 100 people from The W.C. of E. come in and nobody ever spent more than $3 in an evening.
Looking back BP could have been a good time if it weren't for those darn overnight hours. look, you had Jonny on Breast Patrol, some of the corps on Floss patrol, an afternoon mooning
Back when I did it I always found some way to get into the walkin refrig and see what treasures were in there. I could hardly believe my eyes tyhat there were always homemade cookies in there with one that needed to be taste tested (for safety). By the way getting in and out of the frig was something you had to learn to do very quickly and quietly
THe sad thing for me, and all I know about Bless Patrol is what I have read or heard, is what a wasted opportunity this was.
Here you have a group of people, supplying security, who are supposed to be Biblical Scholars, wandering the grounds in the wee hours of the morning. It is during those very same hours that the hurting, the unsure, the grief stricken are all too often pouring their hearts out to God in the hopes of some answers.
What a true blesing it would have been for everyone if the hurt and the BP could have come together, to share, to commisserate, to support each other. But no--they had to have regimentation and legalism that routinely crushed the presence of the Holy Ghost.
I will say it again -- for a ministry that preached "grace" they spent an awful lot of time practicing "law"
I felt like the two times I did it we should have been called 'Bother Patrol." I mean, I could see the reasons for having someone walking around in a semi-purposeful manner at night in case some townies wanted to do something inappropriate, but to have to check the floss chart, etc., was just bothersome to me and to the potentiially, but blissfully snoring, unflossed.
The "Floss Patrol" was way after my days I am thinking. Or, did someone say that it was done during the Sixcth Corps?
Bless Patrol did not enforce it, but in the 6th Corps, there was definitely a weekly flossing chart drawn up and posted on the bathroom doors on the women's floor in Vollmer (Uncle Harry) Hall, and you had to check off every day you flossed.
The funniest thing was going into Uncle Harry hall and seeing Floss hung up to dry so it could be reused. Guess our $20 a month spending limit really wasn't enough for some folks.
lingo, was out there in your corps or maybe a year after ? how did YOU miss all the fun ?
It always seemed to me that BLESS Patrol should find a way to BLESS our Corps brothers and sisters, so I started using my BP shifts to pick up whatever lost items I found as I did rounds. Of course everyone had our names written on every single item we owned, so it was easy to match the item with the owner. I would hang a lost jacket on its owner's doorknob, or stack a kid's missing school book just outside his door. We had a little chest to put lost-and-found things into at the Indiana Campus, so I also kept myself from boredom on BP shifts, sorting through the stuff in this chest, and delivering these to their rightful owners too. Heck, it made the night a little more interesting, and it was fun to watch their faces in the morning when they'd discover their long-lost belongings as they opened their doors.
Of course, the Spirit of Returned Items was eventually discerned and cast out of me. (But not before I had "contaminated" several others with the same mode of night-time entertainment). The world now calls such things "Random Acts of Kindness". God forbid that Bless Patrol might actually bless anybody.
Shifra, great idea.
I remember some really sweet times on Bless Patrol in the 9th Corps at Emporia. It was one of the few times when you actually had time to spend quality one on one time with someone you maybe didn't know very well. There were some really great people that made an impact on me that I still remember from spending a night wandering around the grounds at the W.C. of E. more than 25 years ago.
I remember spending time like that with Milagros Flores and Padraig B*tterly, both from other countries who taught me about what it was like in their country (Venezuala and Ireland).
There was one 7th Corps guy that I did BP with at the ROA (and I can't remember his name) but he taught me by example to pray for every person that we saw as we walked around the grounds. It's something I still try to do today.(Not that I do bless patrol at my house but I do wake up in the middle of the night to pray sometimes). He really did take the "bless" in Bless Patrol seriously. I think this was before I went in res. so when I did BP in res. I really tried to pray all night long. Ususally I was so exhilirated after spending a whole night praying that I didn't mind so much not sleeping. Of course it wore right off during class (ZZZZZZZZ).
I remember some really sweet times on Bless Patrol in the 9th Corps at Emporia. It was one of the few times when you actually had time to spend quality one on one time with someone you maybe didn't know very well. There were some really great people that made an impact on me that I still remember from spending a night wandering around the grounds at the W.C. of E. more than 25 years ago.
But did you ever catch the boogey man on those rounds? probably not. (I caught him the year before lol.)
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Watered Garden
Oh indeedy we were required to floss. After proper instruction by a FWC19 who had been a dental hygienist in a previous life the lists went up and we had to floss each night before beddy-bye and be sure to check our names off. For bless patrol, I was paired both times with a 19th, so could not do what I wanted to do, which was just check the list and check off anybody who hadn't checked themselves. I was absolutely outraged by this invasion of privacy. I also didn't like having my room inspected, including in the drawers to make sure the clothing was properly stored therein.
Our shifts begane at 11:30 PM and ended at I think about 5:00 AM, maybe 4:00 AM. At any rate, we got enough time to go lie down on our bed and drift off to sleep before presenting ourselves, brighteyed, bushy-tailed and fresh as a daisy at breakfast.
There was no excuse for it. Sleep deprivation doesn't make you a stronger believer, it just makes you crazy and tired.
WG
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gladtobeout
amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Shifra
Watered Garden,
Do you remember when the rules evolved into this - if you found that someone had not checked their name (that they had flossed), then you were supposed to wake up that person and THEY had to do your Bless Patrol shift for you? This was about the time that all the "confrontation" exhortations were popular. Personally, I never had the heart to wake someone up and require them to do my shift for me. But a lot of Corps actually did this.
It always seemed to me that BLESS Patrol should find a way to BLESS our Corps brothers and sisters, so I started using my BP shifts to pick up whatever lost items I found as I did rounds. Of course everyone had our names written on every single item we owned, so it was easy to match the item with the owner. I would hang a lost jacket on its owner's doorknob, or stack a kid's missing school book just outside his door. We had a little chest to put lost-and-found things into at the Indiana Campus, so I also kept myself from boredom on BP shifts, sorting through the stuff in this chest, and delivering these to their rightful owners too. Heck, it made the night a little more interesting, and it was fun to watch their faces in the morning when they'd discover their long-lost belongings as they opened their doors.
Of course, the Spirit of Returned Items was eventually discerned and cast out of me. (But not before I had "contaminated" several others with the same mode of night-time entertainment). The world now calls such things "Random Acts of Kindness". God forbid that Bless Patrol might actually bless anybody.
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johniam
What if you SAID you flossed, but didn't? Would they do random testing to make sure you really flossed? 4AM BLAM 3 people break into your bedroom and 2 hold your mouth open while the other flosses you to make sure you don't bleed. Did they do that?
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Watered Garden
I only did it twice and neither time was I told to make the unflossed serve the flossed in that manner. The first time I did it with a guy who actually wrote down the names of the unflossed, gently tapped on their door and asked them, then checked them off.
The second time was with a legalistic little WC 19th lady who made sure everything and everybody was decent and in order. I think she actually woke up the unflossed and made them go check their names off. I should have gotten there first.
Hey, I can appreciate the benefits of nightly flossing. However, I think anyone waiting until midnight or later to ask me had I flossed would have deserved a knuckle sandiwch - floss after eating THIS!
Of course little wuss that I was, I would have figured God would tell the Great Rev WC if I lied about flossing, and I'd get struck by lightning in the lunchroom or something.
So, Shifra, I'm not much help. I thought the whole floss chart was pretty ridiculous. I'm pretty sure people lied and got away with it. And No JohnIAm no one did a gum exam on the potentially unflossed to make sure they didn't bleed. I'm surprised, though.
WG
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Out There
The funniest thing was going into Uncle Harry hall and seeing Floss hung up to dry so it could be reused. Guess our $20 a month spending limit really wasn't enough for some folks. I wonder what all the Bars in Emporia thought when they had 100 people from The W.C. of E. come in and nobody ever spent more than $3 in an evening.
Looking back BP could have been a good time if it weren't for those darn overnight hours. look, you had Jonny on Breast Patrol, some of the corps on Floss patrol, an afternoon mooning
Back when I did it I always found some way to get into the walkin refrig and see what treasures were in there. I could hardly believe my eyes tyhat there were always homemade cookies in there with one that needed to be taste tested (for safety). By the way getting in and out of the frig was something you had to learn to do very quickly and quietly
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templelady
THe sad thing for me, and all I know about Bless Patrol is what I have read or heard, is what a wasted opportunity this was.
Here you have a group of people, supplying security, who are supposed to be Biblical Scholars, wandering the grounds in the wee hours of the morning. It is during those very same hours that the hurting, the unsure, the grief stricken are all too often pouring their hearts out to God in the hopes of some answers.
What a true blesing it would have been for everyone if the hurt and the BP could have come together, to share, to commisserate, to support each other. But no--they had to have regimentation and legalism that routinely crushed the presence of the Holy Ghost.
I will say it again -- for a ministry that preached "grace" they spent an awful lot of time practicing "law"
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Catcup
Oh, man, that's just nasty...............
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Watered Garden
I felt like the two times I did it we should have been called 'Bother Patrol." I mean, I could see the reasons for having someone walking around in a semi-purposeful manner at night in case some townies wanted to do something inappropriate, but to have to check the floss chart, etc., was just bothersome to me and to the potentiially, but blissfully snoring, unflossed.
WG
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J0nny Ling0
The "Floss Patrol" was way after my days I am thinking. Or, did someone say that it was done during the Sixcth Corps?
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Catcup
Bless Patrol did not enforce it, but in the 6th Corps, there was definitely a weekly flossing chart drawn up and posted on the bathroom doors on the women's floor in Vollmer (Uncle Harry) Hall, and you had to check off every day you flossed.
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excathedra
lingo, was out there in your corps or maybe a year after ? how did YOU miss all the fun ?
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wrdsandwrks
Shifra, great idea.
I remember some really sweet times on Bless Patrol in the 9th Corps at Emporia. It was one of the few times when you actually had time to spend quality one on one time with someone you maybe didn't know very well. There were some really great people that made an impact on me that I still remember from spending a night wandering around the grounds at the W.C. of E. more than 25 years ago.
I remember spending time like that with Milagros Flores and Padraig B*tterly, both from other countries who taught me about what it was like in their country (Venezuala and Ireland).
There was one 7th Corps guy that I did BP with at the ROA (and I can't remember his name) but he taught me by example to pray for every person that we saw as we walked around the grounds. It's something I still try to do today.(Not that I do bless patrol at my house but I do wake up in the middle of the night to pray sometimes). He really did take the "bless" in Bless Patrol seriously. I think this was before I went in res. so when I did BP in res. I really tried to pray all night long. Ususally I was so exhilirated after spending a whole night praying that I didn't mind so much not sleeping. Of course it wore right off during class (ZZZZZZZZ).
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Lifted Up
But did you ever catch the boogey man on those rounds? probably not. (I caught him the year before lol.)
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