I worked in an alternative healthcare clinic (holistic stuff like chiropractic and nutrition)for almost a year. When I was hired, they talked about how much they cared about their employees... so much that they even "paid [us] for a 2 hour training workshop weekly!" I started in the middle of the week, and "course" was on Tuesday mornings, so I'd missed it for that week. I was introduced to my vacant but enthusiastic Course Sup Linda, who tried to get me all excited about "learning how to study." I graduated from a prestigious private college with an excellent grade point average, so the idea of having someone teach me how to do something I already knew how to do just fine set me rather on edge (I'm Proud to be a PTS). Well, at my first "course" I was given the illustrated, 2nd grade reading level Introduction to Studying garbage and told to read it and follow the instructions, then Linda would do a "check-out" on it. It took me all of 5 minutes to read it. I didn't do the demo kit crap because I didn't need any more "mass" to comprehend the simplicity of the garbage they were making me read..... then came the checkout. Linda, obviously irritated that I had skipped the demos, decided to spot check every 3rd word in the book trying to catch me with an MU. I made her livid by being able to give her a dictionary definition for each of the words right off. I was an English major in college, have always had a rather highbrow vocabulary and since I was a child have taken pleasure in knowing what words mean. Once Linda argued with me over the meaning of "reeling." She took the dictionary herself, and lo and behold, the definition I'd given her was almost verbatim what Webster had to say. She weaseled her way out of looking like a complete ass by saying that she was thinking of the "second definition."

After this, I'm sure I was labeled as the Supreme PTS for the whole office. I no doubt added to it some weeks later when I told the Sup I didn't do the demos in my next course because I found them to be extraneous.......

Woo-hoo!

Heh heh. Great post, thanks for that, Mandi. Have you read Dave Touretzky's and Chris Owen's excellent site on study tech?

"Using Hubbard's notion of the "misunderstood word", one could introduce a "Source" textbook on geology, written by the President of the Flat Earth Society and have every student who disagreed with the materials look up all the "misunderstood words" they went past, until harmony with the Source material was in place."

From

http://www.studytech.org/study_tech.php

Woo hoo indeed! and welcome to OCMB.

Mandi, Thank you so much for posting here!

When I was in the cult, I had the great horror (oops, it was "honor") of participating in a course called "THE KEY TO LIFE".

What this "life altering" (yuk) course consisted of was word clearing and demonstrating in clay an entire junior high level grammar book. And you thought the "demo kit" was bad???

Can you imagine demontrating in plasticine all 23 definitions of the word "IS"?

Please report this company to the BBB (Better Business Bureau), and please keep reading and posting here. Tell everyone you know your story about working at a scientology-run WISE company.

(WISE means "World Institue of Scientology Enterprises" They deny any association with the "church" of scientolgy.)

Look up WISE and you will see what liars they are. WISE is a scientology front group, and are expected to "turn on" their employees to L. Ron Hubbard and scientology.

You can do alot just by objecting and telling your friends and family to watch out for this type of company. If you save one person from getting sucked into the cult through this scam, your efforts will have been worthwhile.

You found Operation Clambake, if you keep reading you will find alot more, and this site has links to many others. The story just gets curiouser and more interesting the further you look into it.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Mandi,
How was the pay? I just gotta ask, pay in $cientological organizations is usually extremely bad.

Good job on recognizing that the study tech was garbage.

Just follow the study tech so rigidly that you never go past any single doubt about a single word on any page and require help all the way through because you doubt your own ability so much that you never know when you truly understand it. After all, going past mis understood words can cause you all sorts of problems in life..

Actually, I've been an avid reader of all things anti-CO$ for years now. I never thought of reporting them to the BBB though, that's a great idea. Thanks!

It's easy to irritate a course sup - just forget to bring the K-Y.

To make the sup's head turn 360 degrees, at 15 seconds to class finish time yawn heartily, then say, "That was amusing stuff" and walk out of the course room.