The Clearwater Bubble

[CoolHand]

While all current Scientologists appear to be living in their own bubble, it seems that it is especially true in Clearwater - at least that's my perception based on many people I know who still live there.

I flew my daughter back to her mom the other day (well, to the liaison since she can't have any direct contact with me) and saw another mom and her two kids at the airport in Tampa. She was afraid I'd come and talk to her and tried to ignore me. I had recently praised her husband for his talented work and rather than going up to her, I just smiled pleasantly and said hi and kept on. I could literally feel her trepidation regarding what to do and how to act when she saw me.

The thing is that most people in Clearwater still see people flying in from all over the world to go to Flag, so when they see the events they believe them. They also see the big, renovated buildings (Fort Harrison, Oak Cove and soon Super Power) and think how wonderful it all is. They send their kids to the same schools, many of them work together, they hang out together, and life is seemingly grand in their little bubble. Of course, there are also plenty of Sea Org people around as constant reminders not to "step out of line", but they just see that as "keeping their ethics in".

Anyway, I found out that my ex-wife tried to bribe my daughter into not coming to see me last week by offering to take her to Lego Land if she would stay home instead. This, of course, came right after my blog post and interviews about Narconon. I warned them that if they mess with my ability to see her then I would step up my efforts to communicate. Obviously they are not smart enough to know when someone is telling the truth. It's on.

 

[Sindy]

While all current Scientologists appear to be living in their own bubble, it seems that it is especially true in Clearwater - at least that's my perception based on many people I know who still live there.

I flew my daughter back to her mom the other day (well, to the liaison since she can't have any direct contact with me) and saw another mom and her two kids at the airport in Tampa. She was afraid I'd come and talk to her and tried to ignore me. I had recently praised her husband for his talented work and rather than going up to her, I just smiled pleasantly and said hi and kept on. I could literally feel her trepidation regarding what to do and how to act when she saw me.

The thing is that most people in Clearwater still see people flying in from all over the world to go to Flag, so when they see the events they believe them. They also see the big, renovated buildings (Fort Harrison, Oak Cove and soon Super Power) and think how wonderful it all is. They send their kids to the same schools, many of them work together, they hang out together, and life is seemingly grand in their little bubble. Of course, there are also plenty of Sea Org people around as constant reminders not to "step out of line", but they just see that as "keeping their ethics in".

Anyway, I found out that my ex-wife tried to bribe my daughter into not coming to see me last week by offering to take her to Lego Land if she would stay home instead. This, of course, came right after my blog post and interviews about Narconon. I warned them that if they mess with my ability to see her then I would step up my efforts to communicate. Obviously they are not smart enough to know when someone is telling the truth. It's on.

They just don't know when to leave well enough alone. Thanks for having integrity and enduring this nonsense for the sake of what is right.

We're with you. Bring it on.

 

[Pooks]

They just don't know when to leave well enough alone. Thanks for having integrity and enduring this nonsense for the sake of what is right.

We're with you. Bring it on.

Agreed and we no longer take orders from Scientologists or Scientology. We run this!

 

[sallydannce]

Agreed and we no longer take orders from Scientologists or Scientology. We run this!

Seconded!

 

[Man de la Mancha]

CW's the only place I've heard "wogs" speak Scientologese. It is not a big city by any means, especially not the downtown area. Having all those staff members and money in the heart of downtown CW makes them dominant in the community and SO members don't get as much exposure to the outside world as they do, for example, at PAC.

 

[Man de la Mancha]

Anyway, I found out that my ex-wife tried to bribe my daughter into not coming to see me last week by offering to take her to Lego Land if she would stay home instead.

This is downright evil especially in light of the fact that Scn Inc is generally glad to get rid of the kids. Is Flag actually encouraging your ex or is this her personal vendetta against you? Could it be that she is using the kid in an effort to get offloaded? Although the latter option might be forgivable, it is never OK to use the kids as pawns.

 

[Adam7986]

CW's the only place I've heard "wogs" speak Scientologese. It is not a big city by any means, especially not the downtown area. Having all those staff members and money in the heart of downtown CW makes them dominant in the community and SO members don't get as much exposure to the outside world as they do, for example, at PAC.

I was at FLB and PAC and it's the same amount of exposure believe it or not. That seems counter-intuitive but it's true nonetheless.

ETA

Now that I am reflecting on it. I actually had more freedom to move about when I was at FLB training. When I was at PAC base you couldn't go anywhere without being questioned by security. We used to take the public transit at FLB to go to restaurants and stuff on our days off.

 

[CoolHand]

This is downright evil especially in light of the fact that Scn Inc is generally glad to get rid of the kids. Is Flag actually encouraging your ex or is this her personal vendetta against you? Could it be that she is using the kid in an effort to get offloaded? Although the latter option might be forgivable, it is never OK to use the kids as pawns.

She isn't a church staff member, so offloading isn't necessary. I'm sure it's largely personal, but she told me before that if I wasn't ever declared then there would be no problems with her. Whether or not she or anyone at the church ever admits it, it is absolutely a direct result of pressure put on her by the church to disconnect.

 

[Adam7986]

While all current Scientologists appear to be living in their own bubble, it seems that it is especially true in Clearwater - at least that's my perception based on many people I know who still live there.

I flew my daughter back to her mom the other day (well, to the liaison since she can't have any direct contact with me) and saw another mom and her two kids at the airport in Tampa. She was afraid I'd come and talk to her and tried to ignore me. I had recently praised her husband for his talented work and rather than going up to her, I just smiled pleasantly and said hi and kept on. I could literally feel her trepidation regarding what to do and how to act when she saw me.

The thing is that most people in Clearwater still see people flying in from all over the world to go to Flag, so when they see the events they believe them. They also see the big, renovated buildings (Fort Harrison, Oak Cove and soon Super Power) and think how wonderful it all is. They send their kids to the same schools, many of them work together, they hang out together, and life is seemingly grand in their little bubble. Of course, there are also plenty of Sea Org people around as constant reminders not to "step out of line", but they just see that as "keeping their ethics in".

Anyway, I found out that my ex-wife tried to bribe my daughter into not coming to see me last week by offering to take her to Lego Land if she would stay home instead. This, of course, came right after my blog post and interviews about Narconon. I warned them that if they mess with my ability to see her then I would step up my efforts to communicate. Obviously they are not smart enough to know when someone is telling the truth. It's on.

It sounds like something that a Scientologist would do. It's disheartening. They are really selfish people when it comes down to it, but that is by nature of their behavioral and social conditioning.

Good luck on whatever endeavors you will be undertaking.

 

[CoolHand]

I was at FLB and PAC and it's the same amount of exposure believe it or not. That seems counter-intuitive but it's true nonetheless.

ETA

Now that I am reflecting on it. I actually had more freedom to move about when I was at FLB training. When I was at PAC base you couldn't go anywhere without being questioned by security. We used to take the public transit at FLB to go to restaurants and stuff on our days off.

Wow. I guess that shouldn't surprise me though. It would be interesting to see the comparison between staff/trainees and general public.

I used to have people from the Chaplain's office come to my house routinely, and often they would just hang out and chat to seemingly get away from it all. One time the Grammy's were on. Another time a staff member wanted to get on Facebook to see her cousin since she wasn't allowed to have unrestricted internet access. They were often afraid of "getting caught" having fun at work though, and would have to make up for it by continually asking for donations to prove they were really working.

 

[CoolHand]

Good luck on whatever endeavors you will be undertaking.

Thanks!

 

[Adam7986]

Wow. I guess that shouldn't surprise me though. It would be interesting to see the comparison between staff/trainees and general public.

I used to have people from the Chaplain's office come to my house routinely, and often they would just hang out and chat to seemingly get away from it all. One time the Grammy's were on. Another time a staff member wanted to get on Facebook to see her cousin since she wasn't allowed to have unrestricted internet access. They were often afraid of "getting caught" having fun at work though, and would have to make up for it by continually asking for donations to prove they were really working.

Yup that's exactly why staff would take forever on any house call. Whether for recruiting or regging. Just to get away from everything.

I used to sneak out with my parents Sunday mornings when we got that time for cleaning. The people in my dorm hated it when people did that, but no one could keep track because there were 30 of us in there.

My parents never knew I was sneaking out. They thought it was all legit of course. I couldn't tell them because I didn't want to get either one of us in trouble.

 

[Claire Swazey]

It sounds like something that a Scientologist would do. It's disheartening. They are really selfish people when it comes down to it, but that is by nature of their behavioral and social conditioning.

Good luck on whatever endeavors you will be undertaking.

They can come off really selfish and not like they're doing much to help others who aren't in the cult, but I would take it a slight step in another direction and say that Scn'ists can be rather self effacing and somewhat altruistic but it's misplaced- it's directed at and for the cult to the extent that associating with church members is detrimental. Because they are furthering the cult's interests to the exclusion of all else, they are hazardous and untrustworthy to deal with. This is a generalization and is probably not true of all Scn'ists in CofS, but I guess is true of many of them.

 

[Adam7986]

They can come off really selfish and not like they're doing much to help others who aren't in the cult, but I would take it a slight step in another direction and say that Scn'ists can be rather self effacing and somewhat altruistic but it's misplaced- it's directed at and for the cult to the extent that associating with church members is detrimental. Because they are furthering the cult's interests to the exclusion of all else, they are hazardous and untrustworthy to deal with. This is a generalization and is probably not true of all Scn'ists in CofS, but I guess is true of many of them.

Thank you. That is a great expansion and is exactly what I meant. I appreciate the way you worded that.

The term self-righteous comes to mind as well.

 

[Man de la Mancha]

I was at FLB and PAC and it's the same amount of exposure believe it or not. That seems counter-intuitive but it's true nonetheless.

ETA

Now that I am reflecting on it. I actually had more freedom to move about when I was at FLB training. When I was at PAC base you couldn't go anywhere without being questioned by security. We used to take the public transit at FLB to go to restaurants and stuff on our days off.

Well, you're probably right then because I was only in Clearwater after I left the SO. I actually lived there for a year but none of the time was spent on staff or services. I still hung out with Scientologists though and was inside the Fort Harrison many times.

PAC was quite open in the mid-80s. I left base almost every day and took long walks (or runs) all over Hollywood. I called it my exercise time and in my view it was a non-negotiable item supported by policy. Whenever possible, I'd hang out on the Blvd Fri/Sat night - this was in the 80s when Hollywood had the best "cruise" in the country. As I recall, there was never a problem leaving the base - even if I wasn't supposed to. I know it is much different now - I can see it in the youtube vids.

 

[Adam7986]

Well, you're probably right then because I was only in Clearwater after I left the SO. I actually lived there for a year but none of the time was spent on staff or services. I still hung out with Scientologists though and was inside the Fort Harrison many times.

PAC was quite open in the mid-80s. I left base almost every day and took long walks (or runs) all over Hollywood. I called it my exercise time and in my view it was a non-negotiable item supported by policy. Whenever possible, I'd hang out on the Blvd Fri/Sat night - this was in the 80s when Hollywood had the best "cruise" in the country. As I recall, there was never a problem leaving the base - even if I wasn't supposed to. I know it is much different now - I can see it in the youtube vids.

This was back in 2001-2004 that I'm talking about. I'm not sure what it's like now. When we wanted exercise we were expected to run either around the base only or exercise on top of the parking structure across the street.

They never said we "weren't allowed" to leave base. It was implied by security and enforced with ethics actions.

 

[Man de la Mancha]

This was back in 2001-2004 that I'm talking about. I'm not sure what it's like now. When we wanted exercise we were expected to run either around the base only or exercise on top of the parking structure across the street.

That is so lame! We had Tae Kwon Do classes on top of the parking structure, although another poster (Gottabrain I think) said that in the late 80s the tae kwon do was banned as "other fish to fry". One year several of us trained for the LA Marathon every day for weeks at the LA City College track. This was fully supported by our execs in estates.

They never said we "weren't allowed" to leave base. It was implied by security and enforced with ethics actions.

Security had an obvious presence in the 80s, but most of the guards never said anything and if they did I'd just say "exercise time" and cite the Flag order. As I recall, there was only one security guard I was wary of. He reminded me of "The Man With No Eyes" in Cool Hand Luke.

 

[Adam7986]

That is so lame! We had Tae Kwon Do classes on top of the parking structure, although another poster (Gottabrain I think) said that in the late 80s the tae kwon do was banned as "other fish to fry". One year several of us trained for the LA Marathon every day for weeks at the LA City College track. This was fully supported by our execs in estates.

Security had an obvious presence in the 80s, but most of the guards never said anything and if they did I'd just say "exercise time" and cite the Flag order. As I recall, there was only one security guard I was wary of. He reminded me of "The Man With No Eyes" in Cool Hand Luke.

I was wary of all the Security guards. They were like voyeurs almost. I would be walking down the street and all of a sudden one would show up asking me where I was going, why was I alone, who approved me to go, etc.

I was told we would get martial arts training when I was recruited but they must have cancelled the classes by the time I graduated the EPF.

 

[HelluvaHoax!]

...


Not so Bubblicious Bubble in Clearwater. . .

I have an impeccably good "CI" (confidential informant) in CW who speaks of much unrest by local OTs who are trying to straddle the world of avoiding registrars but not appearing on the Thought-Police radar screen.

What we are talking about is a bunch of middle-aged "OTs" who failed to go OT and are struggling with the cult's relentless pressure that always comes neatly packaged with tone 40 assurances that Scientology is the road to OT.

From my own conversations with CW OTs, they are a very nervous lot indeed, living so close to the nuclear reactor that is leaking contamination.

These people cannot actually say what they think. I cannot imagine trying to live like that.

In some of my conversations with Scientologists, they go on high-alert when any forbidden ideas or words even come into the conversation. Alarms sound and they frantically (while trying to pretend their TRs are in) search for some way--ANY WAY--to detour the conversation back onto "theta". Being in the cult, they don't have real conversational skills (just TRs) so they inevitably blurt out some inappropriate "stable datum" from scripture.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
Hey I noticed in the local newspaper down there that there
were some big articles about top SO members leaving because
they were being imprisoned and beaten. What do you think about that?

OT
I find that it's better to keep gossip and entheta off my lines.
Hey, this weather we are having is great isn't it?

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
Sure, I can understand that. But, it really bothered me that so
many long-time Scientologists said the same thing about being beaten.
If that were true, wouldn't that be something you would be concerned about?

OT
Well, the tech works! I have certainty on that. I try
not to get distracted by gossip and low toned things.
I wasn't there, so who knows what happened.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
But, if people were being regularly beaten, that would
be a real situation, wouldn't it? I mean, you'd want to
pull the string and get the true data about your own
group so you could take responsibility, wouldn't you?

OT
Sure, if it was true. But it's not true, obviously because
we are flourishing and prospering like never before.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
But, even the church's spokesman said that over 50 people
had been beaten over several years. I didn't make it up,
the church said that themselves.

OT
Hey, I'm not going to by-pass senior management because
they are not in Danger, the stats are highest ever. I am sure
whatever happened has been handled and the bad guys that
were causing it have been salvaged or kicked out.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
So if people were regularly being beaten, it doesn't bother you?

OT
Well, that's not my hat.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
Not your hat?

OT
No, not my hat to handle beatings. My hat is to
salvage this planet and create a world without
criminality and beatings.

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
So, if there are beatings wouldn't that be part
of your hat?

OT
Have you heard about the think-think rundown. Ron says
that if a being handles their think-think, they can really
finally achieve their goals. I did it and the wins were amazing!

EX SCIENTOLOGIST
So, now you don't have to think-think about beatings when
you are creating a world without beatings?

OT
Thank you for duplicating me. Hey,
this weather we are having is great isn't it?​

 

[Adam7986]

I certainly hope that is true. I would look forward to being able to speak to my family again.