Ah... the friends in sobriety! I have friends that drink and stuff, but the ones who I grew up with and partied with... I see them from time to time and they either don't have any problems with me as a sober member of AA or they sort of don't like being around me when they're drunk. It's as if they don't want to be preached to, but I've learned to not do that.
If they're drunk, I don't want to be around them, and if I'm sober, they don't want to be around me. It's pretty simple that way.
I can go to a bar or a restaurant that serves booze, if I'm clear on why I'm going in there. If I'm there for a specific purpose, like to get a slopper smothered in green chile, no problem. I go in there and have a soda, wait for my takeout and go, or I sit and have a meal with my friends. But if for any reason I don't feel comfortable, or I'm just sort of "not spiritually fit", I go somewhere else. Being sober, I don't like being around drunks while they're drinking. When I'm not drunk with them, they make no sense to me. I'll meet with the new man if he means business and wants to talk AA. Sometimes they're drunk, but if they're respectful and if they're not combative or talkative, I tell them to call me another day or to sober up and meet me in a meeting.
We are not all alcoholics and/or we are all not done drinking. But I don't think normal drinkers have to quit, moderate or stop. Hard drinkers and/or potential alcoholics do though... I think.
The book says that I can sit down with the ex-problem drinker "who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished."
I was in AA for 4 long months going to meetings before someone in AA actually asked me, "So, tell me about your drinkin'? How is it with you and booze?"
