Passed up my chance to join a cult and save the world. :-)
Lately the press here has been obsessed with Leah Remini leaving Scientology. It’s old news, but I guess her book explosing a lot of stuff about the “religion” is coming out this week (today or tomorrow), 20/20 aired and interview with her on it on Friday, and it involves the local Scientology “Celebrity Center” here, so it’s hitting a lot of the local news pretty much to the point I'm sick of it already. LOL
I didn’t see the 20/20 thing on TV, but got curious and watched it on the computer. In it, both Remini and her mother talked about the mission of Scientology they believed they were helping to accomplish was to "save the world." I’d never heard that was the mission of Scientology before or how they planned to accomplish it, so it kinda took me by surprise. Save the world? Really? I thought they just expected a space ship to come pick them up and save them. Then I remembered I heard these exact words a couple of weeks ago.
My gym is in the same complex as the Arclight/Dome Theater on Sunset Blvd. You walk into this courtyard entrance area and that's the theater entrance on the right. The two upper floors on the left are entirely the gym and the windows wrap alll the way around giving a great view of the Hollywood Hills. Most days, there are people standing on Sunset in front with clipboards, stopping people for what I assumed was some kind of survey. Often there are 3 or 4 of them, usually they are talking to people already and leave me alone as I walk by. Sometimes they aren’t though, and they don’t try to stop me.
I have wondered what they are doing and almost stopped to ask once because they are there so often, but decided I wasn’t that curious. Maybe they don’t stop me because I have on gym clothes, or don’t look the type for whatever survey or questions they have? I'm also usually moving fast and not wandering along like I have nothing to do the way a lot of tourists do. I also thought maybe they were affiliated with the Arclight and I am clearly not dressed to go to the movies. Who knows? Whatever.
Then one day last week one did try to stop me. I said no thanks and just kept walking. About 10 yards down I see this female smiling broadly at me as I approached and said “hey muscleman!” and made an arm flexing motion. I’m no muscleman. I often joke that I have spaghetti noodle arms, but I was wearing a sleeveless workout shirt and wondered whether to be flattered. Ha! I laughed a little, and then she said “want to save the world with me?” So then I’m thinking, OK, she’s a loony, but she didn’t look loony. Really strange thing to say if she's not loony.I said “sorry, no time to save the world today” and just kept walking. :-)
It didn't hit me they are all probably Scientology recruiters until I saw the 20/20 interview about saving the world, but it makes sense. The gym is also a stone’s throw from the “Scientology Museum” as you can see from this pic below I took inside the gym. This building is said to house the equivalent of their FBI/Pentagon, etc. They investigate people who might cause trouble, put tails on them, threaten them if they leave the church or suspect they are thinking of leaving, They can be locked up for days for what they call "audits" where they are interrogated.Crazy stuff.
Two blocks down from that on Hollywood Blvd. there’s a Scientology Information Center, a Scientology Testing Center, and not too far from those are the main Scientology Center (a hospital they bought and converted) and the Scientology Celebrity Center, another huge building. They basically own a ton of REALLY expensive real estate in the area. They are said to work the area, but there’s nothing in particular about them that stands out and I just hadn't put it together before.- until I was asked to help save the world.
Now that I know who they are, I'm a little upset. I have walked by them time after time for months and not once did they ever try to talk to me until last week. Why not? What's wrong with me? Why wouldn't they want me in their cult?
I didn’t see the 20/20 thing on TV, but got curious and watched it on the computer. In it, both Remini and her mother talked about the mission of Scientology they believed they were helping to accomplish was to "save the world." I’d never heard that was the mission of Scientology before or how they planned to accomplish it, so it kinda took me by surprise. Save the world? Really? I thought they just expected a space ship to come pick them up and save them. Then I remembered I heard these exact words a couple of weeks ago.
My gym is in the same complex as the Arclight/Dome Theater on Sunset Blvd. You walk into this courtyard entrance area and that's the theater entrance on the right. The two upper floors on the left are entirely the gym and the windows wrap alll the way around giving a great view of the Hollywood Hills. Most days, there are people standing on Sunset in front with clipboards, stopping people for what I assumed was some kind of survey. Often there are 3 or 4 of them, usually they are talking to people already and leave me alone as I walk by. Sometimes they aren’t though, and they don’t try to stop me.
I have wondered what they are doing and almost stopped to ask once because they are there so often, but decided I wasn’t that curious. Maybe they don’t stop me because I have on gym clothes, or don’t look the type for whatever survey or questions they have? I'm also usually moving fast and not wandering along like I have nothing to do the way a lot of tourists do. I also thought maybe they were affiliated with the Arclight and I am clearly not dressed to go to the movies. Who knows? Whatever.
Then one day last week one did try to stop me. I said no thanks and just kept walking. About 10 yards down I see this female smiling broadly at me as I approached and said “hey muscleman!” and made an arm flexing motion. I’m no muscleman. I often joke that I have spaghetti noodle arms, but I was wearing a sleeveless workout shirt and wondered whether to be flattered. Ha! I laughed a little, and then she said “want to save the world with me?” So then I’m thinking, OK, she’s a loony, but she didn’t look loony. Really strange thing to say if she's not loony.I said “sorry, no time to save the world today” and just kept walking. :-)
It didn't hit me they are all probably Scientology recruiters until I saw the 20/20 interview about saving the world, but it makes sense. The gym is also a stone’s throw from the “Scientology Museum” as you can see from this pic below I took inside the gym. This building is said to house the equivalent of their FBI/Pentagon, etc. They investigate people who might cause trouble, put tails on them, threaten them if they leave the church or suspect they are thinking of leaving, They can be locked up for days for what they call "audits" where they are interrogated.Crazy stuff.
Two blocks down from that on Hollywood Blvd. there’s a Scientology Information Center, a Scientology Testing Center, and not too far from those are the main Scientology Center (a hospital they bought and converted) and the Scientology Celebrity Center, another huge building. They basically own a ton of REALLY expensive real estate in the area. They are said to work the area, but there’s nothing in particular about them that stands out and I just hadn't put it together before.- until I was asked to help save the world.
Now that I know who they are, I'm a little upset. I have walked by them time after time for months and not once did they ever try to talk to me until last week. Why not? What's wrong with me? Why wouldn't they want me in their cult?