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Now, I try to focus on a newcomer in the meeting and tell that person:" This is how I was and this is how I used the program of of AA as outlined in the BB to make that situation better.
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I think that is the best approach Tom, we have to remember that AA is not a hot-bed of mental health, people come in here with alot of different problems and they want answers- it is important we show them what answers we do have.
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Once upon a time it was SOP to tell newcomers to take the cotton out of their ears and put it in their mouth for at least the first 6 months of sobriety. This filtered out most of the "irrelevant crap".
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They still do that out here, the problem is the guys who are saying it spew more garbage and venom at everyone else that they make the program seem like something no one would want. I have alot more tolerance for the new person who vomits up garbage in a meeting than someone who has been around awhile, I know I should have the same level of tolerance but damn- I am only human.
When I come across this problem in AA I often try to cite the great pu-bah Bill W ( Hey they won't listen to me, maybe they will listen to him). Bill wrote a great article in the Grapevine about this. You can see it is an old problem ( as most are in AA)
Problems Other Than Alcohol: What Can Be Done About Them?