Scientology’s Sea Org: Almost no pay and no sleep, but plenty of swearing and smoking!
[Today’s guest post is by Sunny Pereira]
Why do Sea Org members smoke and swear so much? I think the first time I remember hearing a swear word was when I was around four. By the age of five, I was swearing like a sailor. By 15 I was in the adult RPF, smoking nearly a pack a day of cigarettes.
Well, the Sea Org thinks it’s full of sailors, so could that be why all the swearing?
Within the Sea Org itself, swearing isn’t anything that I have ever seen a punishment doled out for. The same for smoking.
But going to meals on time? Leaving per your schedule to shower and sleep? Oh yeah, you can be punished for those.
We always had urgent things that had to be done that day, or that afternoon. So, it was very common to overhear, or be told, “You don’t go to dinner until you have a fucking person arrived into the Sea Org!” or “Nobody secures until the entire damn shithole of Central Files is brought up to Sea Org standards!” or “If you don’t resolve this right fucking now, I will send you to the RPF.”
We all felt the constant threat looming over us. Would we eat today? Would we be able to rest? If I only slept an hour last night, will I be allowed to make it up the next night (no)? Orgs set out leftover dinner at midnight for those who had been told they could not secure until something or other was done. Midrats (short for midnight rations) might have been the most visited meal in the Sea Org.
I guess swearing with anger tones gave an emphasis that you meant business. Seniors swearing and joking sometimes meant they were in a good mood and you might get your mealtime or even go to bed on time that night. It was rare, however.
Sometimes the swearing was misconstrued and ended up being something we all laugh about for years. For example, the story of Guillaume Lesevre, Executive Director Int. Those who know him know that he speaks English with a heavy French accent. He had been sent, in the middle of the night, to wake up Janet Light to tell her she was going to Australia. I believe it was somewhere around 2 AM or so. Waking up Sea Org members was common. Many were lucky to get full night of sleep. He banged on her door to wake her up. She came to the door sleepily and he told her to “get dressed, you are being sent to Australia,” to which she screamed “get the fuck out of here!” as an expression of surprise. Guillaume looked a little taken aback and said “no, I’m not going anywhere.”
This still cracks me up.
Have y’all ever heard about people who were on the RPF and had been given permission to leave? They were wanted back on post? And they refused to go? Why would that be? I’ll tell you what the most people told me, that had refused: because on the RPF they got regular sleep and meals. Some just wanted another month or so of rest before going back into the Sea Org. Yes, the work on the RPF is heavy and difficult, but for many, they preferred it to the torture they endured on posts. At least they got regular meals and sleep on the RPF.
I know this also raises the question of why these people didn’t leave. Well, this article isn’t about that, but we can note here a basic and simple answer: They were under heavy mind control in the Sea Org. Many were held back because of family, many truly believed that Scientology was the only answer and they felt they had to endure in order for everyone to be free. There are a lot of martyrs and would-be martyrs in the Sea Org.
So what about the smoking? Well, smoking isn’t forbidden anywhere in Scientology or the Sea Org. Locations for smoking are designated, of course. But Sea Org members could be denied food, denied sleep, but they were always allowed a cigarette break. Plus they killed our appetite and even perked us up with a little energy for a while. And there was no limit to the number of cig breaks you could have. For example, if you could not rest until Central Files was perfect, that could be many, many days being up. So those cigs were what kept you going. Those were the only brain breaks we had sometimes. And so we smoked. Liked chimneys.
Shortly after I left the Sea Org and realized that the scam of Scientology was much more than I originally thought, I took my last drag of my last cigarette and said “fuck that.” I was done with smoking and Scientology.
I have tried to quit swearing, and I think I have gotten much better at it than I had been. Like another ex famously said, “I only swear when I am talking about my Scientology past.”
I’d say that is because of what it brings out of us. Maybe the swearing helps us process what we have been through.
— Sunny Pereira
The Bad Cadet now an audiobook
Last April, Katherine Spallino’s coming-of-age book The Bad Cadet caused quite a stir here at the Bunker.
Now, Katherine’s let us know that an audiobook version of The Bad Cadet is available at Audible!
Here again is the description of the book she provided us…
Katherine Spallino grew up on a secluded ranch within the Cadet Org, the Church of Scientology’s Sea Org school for children. She is no longer a Scientologist and is a stay-at-home mom happily raising three rambunctious boys (two of whom are twins) in Minneapolis with her husband. Katherine is working on her second novel, The Bad Scientologist. Follow her on Instagram @thebadcadet and twitter @badcadet to receive updates and news.
We love Audible, and if you do too, please consider downloading this memoir.
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Back in my early Sea Org days, cigarettes were a dollar per pack, not too bad.
But even if you were not getting paid often, there was always someone to bum a cig or two off of.
The only way to make extra money in the Sea Org was to sell Hubbard books. Those who made commissions were usually kind enough to share cigs.
Also, Hubbard quit smoking at some point, early 80’s. I remember because we had to go around and remove all the packs of cigs that were in the LRH offices.
When I was around 11 I remember I found a pack of cigs left in a vending machine. I brought them home to my mom. She said she didn’t smoke that brand. I asked her what I should do with them, she said “smoke ‘em”.
I was on the RPF in the early days on the Apollo in 1974. I got regular meals, lots of exercise and sleep and very little stress. I was in top physical shape. RPFers saw regular staff as unhealthy and to some degree weak and confused. After three month I knew the SO was not for me. That is a story in itself.