Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Seed Discussion Forum
Fresh blood
Anonymous:
75
Anonymous:
Anonymous: I had lots of friends in your class. Jim Lilly, Paul Scherffius, Lynn Funk and many others whose names escape me. I was always a little jealous of the seedlings as they seened to really have it together. Funny how growing up changes the way you see things. My parents would not admit I had a problem and let me flounder with it. My druggie days ended at 20 when I ran into a car and really hurt a passenger in the other car.
cleveland:
Marshall,
The Seed was still taking in newcomers from '78 - '85, but it was at the rate of about 1 a month on average I would guess. Since it was voluntary only, they were typically siblings, or the courts recommended as an alternative for something. And, one of the consequences of this was that you were, if you chose to stick around, always on your program. Oldtimers were expected to work in Seed-approved jobs and live in Seed apartments, guys in one group, 'chicks' in another, and staff might move you from one apartment to another for whatever reason...you pooled money to pay the bills, but didn't contribute financially to the Seed itself. Graduates donated tons of time, though, because giving 100% of your non-work 'free time' to the Seed - doing errands, attending raps, giving newcomers a ride - was considered a privilege. Social activities were limited to Seed-sanctioned functions, usually endless games of baseball or football, with Art's team always winning. At home, if there was no newcomer, guys would work on cars, or mow lawns, or do carpentry, while girls would 'cook, clean or sew.' There were yearly 'talent shows' and kids would practice for those. I understand they got more and more elaborate as the years went by.
A few of the high-status graduates, usually staff, jr. staff, or ex-staff, started businesses. Some of them married in Seed-sanctioned ceremonies. These people hung out together in a tight group, and socialized with Art and his wife.
When the Seed broke up, (see elsewhere on this site) the Seed people scattered. By this time, most of the long-termers were married or established in businesses. A few of them even married non-Seed graduates.
I guess you could use the word 'cult,' but it seems to me to be more like an immigrant family with a strong patriarch - you know, a tight, closed family that rewards members with 'love,' but also exacts a price in loyalty and conformity. People who spent a long time at the Seed were different from the kids who went on the program, graduated and moved on.
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Wally Gator[ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2005-01-27 07:49 ]
wtaylorg:
I agree with Cleveland. The seed I moved down to Ft Lauderdale to join in '82 was very different than the Seed I graduated from in '78. I went down there in '82 hoping to work construction (I thought all the guys in those days worked construction) and live in the houses. Well, when I arrived I was expecting to see a few hundred graduates like I had seen before. Instead, there were maybe 80. Most of the construction guys had moved along and I was told I would have to come into the Seed everyday. This really threw me because I didn't like the raps. I was told that now all oldtimers are basically always on their program as a way of life. It wasn't long before I was called ino tthe backoffice, not the last time either and told to either change my attitude or get my stuff together and they would drop me off at the airport. At that point Something inside of me told me they (staff) were full of shit and I thought "hey, you told me I could come down here and live as a graduate and now you're saying I can't". I thought "I'll show em". So, I decided to play the game and when I thought that the Seed loved me as much they ever did or could, "I'll leave". For whatever reason I wasn't gonna have them kick me out.
This took about 3 yrs. But, when I was driving my old oldsmobile up the road north, the day I left. I was never happier.
God bless Art!
cleveland:
Wtaylorg, you had the perspective of coming BACK to the Seed. For those of us there, when the Seed was transitioning away from a Program you graduated from to a lifestyle you never left, it was like that analogy of putting a frog in a pot and slowly raising the heat - the frog will never jump out, just slowly boil to death because it doesn't realize what's happening.
I can picture you in that gold-colored 60s car you inherited - I'm trying to remember when you left - was it before me? I left October 30th of 1985...
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