* Patty Winter wrote, On 5/20/2011 11:19 AM:

The Salon article has a link to an image of a memo that Harold Camping
sent out saying that all employees would have a paid day off today, but
the station (KEAR 610KHz here in the Bay Area) is still on the air, so
clearly someone is there today. Unless they just set everything to run
automatically until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday...


_Firsthand Account From Family Radio_

My Facebook status last night began:
"I forgot to wear my big floppy shoes and honking rubber nose for the
circus at work today."

The whole day was circus-like, and uncomfortable. It was nearly
impossible to get any real work done, and most of the "faithful"
present had no intention of working anyway. The number of people
entering and leaving our building (not the main headquarters across
the parking lot) was greater than at any time since we moved there.
Headquarters itself was a virtual ghost town.

The crowd mentality was like a class of kindergartners doing a pee-pee
dance from excitement- a veritable going away party. Our own TV staff,
none of whom are Campingites, refused to accept food or drink from any
of the celebrants. We have not forgotten November 1978 and *that*
group of committed faithful. (We did, however, bring our own pizza and
cupcakes!)

About a half hour before Open Forum, Camping came into the studio by a
different route than usual, avoiding a gathering crowd. Non-staff were
banned from the building with the exception of a couple of L.A. Times
reporters who were told that they could take notes and record, but
Camping would not answer any questions. He wouldn't have anything new
to say anyway. Camping said that he had answered all the questions
from reporters that he was going to, and that they were all out to get
him anyway- he claimed to be "a man under siege." "This is absolutely
going to happen!" he declared to the reporters, revealing the level of
stress that he was visibly under.

The crowd of listeners and fan(atic)s had gathered in expectation of
being able to sit in the Open forum studio as they had been allowed to
do for several nights previous. There was great disappointment and
anger at being told to exit the building and having the doors locked
against them. We stood guard throughout the broadcast to prevent a
rush when employees entered and left the building.

Eventually someone produced a boom-box on which they monitored the
live broadcast going on inside. There was a lot of cooing and hugging
among them as they comforted one another over this, the last ever (one
can only hope) live Open Forum, and awaited Camping's exit from the
building so they could . . . adore(?) him. He left by an alternate
exit not staked out by the faithful, and again there was
disappointment and anger as they were not allowed to make their final
farewells to the Leader.

As I left the building half an hour after Open Forum had ended, the
crowd had not dissipated at all, and there were several reporters
still interviewing people in the parking lot. I had to get into my
vehicle, start the engine and release the brake (rolling a couple of
inches) before people would move out of the way so I could leave, they
were so caught up in their circus.

I don't know what will be the state of affairs come Monday morning as
far as our jobs with Family Stations, Inc. are concerned. As I've
previously posted, my inner predictor swings wildly between total
collapse and attempting business as usual. I'm going with the latter
until I can't. I'm old enough that I really have no desire to be
looking for a job that I'd be unlikely to find anyway, in the current
economic climate.

I can say that the great, anguished "Noooooo!" you hear on Sunday
morning will be Camping's adoring followers waking up to an unchanged
world. Hell on earth will have begun indeed for many of them.

JT
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