Chips issues

[meditation]

I have a question about the chip system in AA. Okay I picked up my year chip in NA and it was no big deal. At the end of the meeting I got the keytag. But I also go 50% of the time to AA due to the strong years of sobriety in AA and I hope to hear something about experience and things I don't always get in NA due to the high relapse rates in NA.

Okay then. I talked with an oldtimer about 3 weeks back about the process to get the year chip in AA. He said just tell the chair you are going to get a year medallion. Fine. I tell the chair (different oldtimer than one I talked with 3 weeks back) today I had a year yesterday and would like to get my chip today if possible at the end of the meeting.

His response was that I had to have a formal process going on to get the medallion. I had to have somebody present the chip to me. So I said well I would have to plan another day then to get the chip.
And that the chip was not for me but for the newcomer to see that a year chip could be earned. I said to the chair well geedarn, that's great and everything but I was really looking forward to this chip and I really worked hard. I think it's great that the newcomer gets the experience but I really thought the chip was about earning a milestone.

I had never heard about this chip problem till today and frankly, now I don't want a chip. It seems a big deal to pick it up and I don't like a circus production around this. I had a very small wedding back 25 years ago and everything in my life has been on a small scale. I don't want a production out of this. I just want to get the medallion like I got the other ones along the way, no fuss, just a nice feeling, now I feel sort of yucky about this whole thing and I am content to just have my keytag from NA. I doubt I will ask again for the medallion. My question is ..... is this a normal process? Can't a person just get one and who is this chip for? The milestone earner or the newcomer? I don't have any resentments, just sort of resigned about the thing.

[lostbutterfly]

All meetings are different. I go to one where they dish out all the chips from 24 hours and upwards. It is no big deal.

But some old timers seem to hate the idea of chips - my sponsor being one.

[soberat23]

i feel the same as you. i also attend both types of meetings, but now mostly aa. meetings are just all different. i have found one that does chips every meeting, but the year chips are at the end of the month and you just get to share for 5-10 min. you definetly deserve it for you, no doubt. just remember that aa and the old timers are very strick on their ways and giving back is very big to most. go get your chip somewhere else, its a good way to introduce yourself at a new meeting. congrats!!!!!!!

[TTOSBT]

I have never had this type of experience in AA.

In all of my meetings, you tell the secretary of the meeting before the meeting or a week before or whatever, that you would like to take your One Year chip and then they give it to you when the time comes if you do not have someone that you want to have give it to you. In my meetings we also do cake for annual birthdays but that is not mandatory.

Every meeting is different but here in San Diego (at least my meetings), it is a big dam deal and they treat every one like a celebration. I like it It is a HUGE deal! I am now at 17 months and have not gotten a chip in 5 months, I miss it, lol.

FYI, I personally take three tokens at each milestone. My sponsor told me to do this. Take one for you, one for your higher power and one for the newcomer.

By the way, !

[tommyk]

My observation is that some 'old timers' forget they were once newcomers.

Potential control & protectionism issues can often arise.

I use these types of observances as a warning to never forget where I came from.

Just my opinion - most often a newcomer seeing someone get a one year symbol is more beneficial than a person receiving a one year symbol - the newcomer needs every opportunity to see that it can be done!

Congrats on your decision to just let the whole thing slide, that shows growth.

[Mark75]

Awesome on your first year!!

My experience in my home group is that if you are celebrating an anniversary, you put the day you are going to celebrate in the book. At every meeting, the upcoming anniversaries are announced for the upcoming month. If a coin is to be presented at the celebration the celebrant has arranged for that ahead of time. My brother (23 years sober in AA) presented my one year coin to me at my celebration 2 weeks ago. I brought the cake.

The celebrant leads the meeting and shares for about 20 minutes or so and then suggests a topic for discussion.

My celebration was a very emotional and important event for me personally. The group got to know me and my experience and I tried to share my strength and hope with everyone, but particularly the newcomers. So, my celebration was important to them.

The celebration is for everyone. We all share in my success, and that's the way it should be, I didn't do it alone. And if I can inspire another, so much the better...

Is my one year coin important to me? You bet. My brother carries his coin everywhere he goes (I spend a lot of time with him on trips, etc...) and I can safely assume it is important to him...

You don't have to celebrate. I could celebrate at any one of three or four meetings I go to, or, all of them... I only choose to do so at my home group. But I could have easily not celebrated at any of them.

Great going for your one year meditation... Do what feels right to you.

Mark

[sailorjohn]

Originally Posted by meditation

who is this chip for? The milestone earner or the newcomer? I don't have any resentments, just sort of resigned about the thing.

Thanks for the post. Have been thinking about this a bit lately, my homegroup hands the tokens-or medallions, whatever you want to call them, at the open meeting on the last Friday of every month.

The thing is, we rarely-for whatever reason-have newcomers there.

The other group I attend regularly, has a lot of newcomers on a fairly regular basis, I think I'm gonna make that my second home group and get my token there, and skip the other thing.

Dilemma I'm having, the first group has some pretty awesome cakes-my choice of cake-to go with the chips, turn down the chip and I miss that cake!

The longer I go, the more firmly convinced I am that the chip is only for the struggling newcomer. I don't need to be applauded for saving my life.

[CarolD]

At my home group.....we voted to do this.....

to get a medallion you have to be a member of our group.
We have them engraved
We give them out on the last Friday night of the month
and yes! we do have cake and it's considered a big deal.

At each meeting we do give poker chips for various time in
sobriety....includeing a blue one for a year or more. That is
as important but it's a low key deal.
Anyone there is welcome to receive any chip....

My first home group never gave chips or medallions
That was what that group decided in their GC.

You can also order chips/medallions on line without either
earning them or being an AA member.

Who are the chips for? Mine is a token of how I
became a recovered alcoholic.
To show newcomers how I earned it.....I try to live
with God and the AA Steps.
I don't need a chip to do service work.

[Music]

I've been carrying a medallion of some sort(plastic or medal)for over 32 years. It means a lot to me and serves as a reminder from whence I came. My first sponsor told me to carry it with my change so it would rattle and make noise and also if I felt like taking a drink, drop it in the drink and when it dissolves, go ahead and drink...LOL. The medallion is as much for me as it is for the newcomer. People need to know that with comittment, there is reward. Don't let this spoil your experience. Go to another meeting and announce your year and see what happens. Don't give up. Just 'cause it didn't happen the way you thought, try again.

[Rob B]

Have you written inventory on this?
P.M. me if you have questions.

[meditation]

I guess I've never seen a year chip ceremony before. I am not sure what the format is here. The good news is I have a wonderful friend that chairs a meeting across town and she is planning on giving me the medallion and she wants to do it at my aftercare so not only will I benefit from this but the group members that share here will get to benefit too. And truly it is perfect. I could not ask for a more perfect way on how I would want this to work out... My HP is right there in this amazingly HIS will over mine and His is so much better.

It's interesting how many different ways anniversaries are celebrated. Some with cake, some with engravings, some at the end of the month, some not at all.
The chip in of and itself just represents the work I've done in the past year on myself it's not that I need to collect or obsess about a piece of metal. So I was really okay with letting it slide and being in a good place about it all but it worked out to be something I was not even imagining.
Acceptance is something I learned out of this. Living in faith too.

[Tommyh]

i have never seen this either
heck,my group would gladly give you one

happy birthday !

[LauraS]

Originally Posted by sailorjohn

Thanks for the post. Have been thinking about this a bit lately, my homegroup hands the tokens-or medallions, whatever you want to call them, at the open meeting on the last Friday of every month.

The thing is, we rarely-for whatever reason-have newcomers there.

The other group I attend regularly, has a lot of newcomers on a fairly regular basis, I think I'm gonna make that my second home group and get my token there, and skip the other thing.

Dilemma I'm having, the first group has some pretty awesome cakes-my choice of cake-to go with the chips, turn down the chip and I miss that cake!

The longer I go, the more firmly convinced I am that the chip is only for the struggling newcomer. I don't need to be applauded for saving my life.

I had an issue with chips during my last go-round. My home group did it like yours, where everyone gets their chip at the end of the month of their birthday. The problem was that my sobriety date was the 6th. When I had 30 days, I was supposed to wait until I had almost 60 days to get that 30 day chip.

I know it's a minor thing, but it irked me that I never got that chip, even though I made the milestone. I think people in their earliest days need a bit of reinforcement. This time I am shopping around for a different home group because I think I need my hand held just a little bit more right now. I know that will change as I gain sober time, but right now I need all the positive stuff I can get.

[shaun00]

chips?? tokens??

never seen it here in the uk........somewhere maybe but never at a meeting ive been too.
you normally get to speak.......free terrible coffee....and a pat on the back..

now i want some chips damn it......

[yeahgr8]

No chips in Gibraltar either as it is based on the UK style of meetings, NA give out chips though and they do give out chips in AA in Spain...don't really care either way:-)

[CAPTAINZING2000]

To thine own self be true

Generally, the meetings I attend we give out a coin for 24 hours and monthly or at least every 3 months to a year.

You pick up a coin, a key tag etc. as much for the new commer as your self. Even after 10 years of picking up coins, I look forward to my AA birthday more then, a belly button birthday.

I like your humble attitude about this though. A lady that came into AA a few weeks after I did is still announcing at every meeting she got 10 years and passes her coin around for good luck. Some are sicker then others.

[Cathy31]

Here in South Africa I know of no meetings where you get a chip at all in AA - only in NA.

The procedure though for 'celebrating' an anniversary is a procedure - you have to give the secretary of whatever group the date of your anniversary and it's announced at every group in the area for about a month prior. That's how it works.

For anything less than a year ONE groups gives out on a very informal basis chips for months. At a year it stops.

If I were you I'd try and frame it that it's not a big deal per se just the way the gruop manages the chip issue...from what you wrote it sounds like you wanted YOUR needs met (my chip NOW) no matter what...just a thought. Look outside of yourself, I think the 'oldtimer' was just explaining to you how it's done - i.e. you need to put in a bit of effort and planning so that it runs smoothly for everyone...

Just my thoughts...

Cathy31
x

[navysteve]

You know folks when we get right down to it, none of us has any time, but "we" have the time. I hope thta is not too cryptic.

Of myself I am nothing. With you I have everything. I am not big on chips and celebrations in AA. My mom told me once that I was bragging about what I was supposed to be doing all along. Boy did that ring true. My last real home group used to have a chip meeting on last saturday of the month. It was a great equalizer, there was no status, no balloons, no cards. Just drunks celebrating life. Only those receiving coins share at that meeting, so there is no ego feeding ( everyone telling you how much you have grown etc...)

I do get a coin every year. I like to hand them down to folks in the rooms. I would love to get a used chip from someone in the parking lot after the meeting or while sitting at the coffee shop rather than hearing the applause in an AA meeting. It means more then


But what the heck do I know?

[tricky164]

we do have chips here in the uk,

they are a great chance to show newcomers that this program works and a chance to celebrate what you have achieved.

i dont get to do that at home, because when i tell them i aint drunk or took drugs for two years they just say "so what", you shouldnt have done it in the first place, what do you want a medal ?.

arrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh family, i always get the truth there.


peace and fellowship to you all.

god bless

[meditation]

I got tickled at the English guy talking about the French Fries. I forgot that chips mean something different in England. I love English slang.

Cathy:
maybe you are right, maybe I should have not asked for the chip or expected one for the year. Expecting things sounds like I thought I deserved one but really it took my HP to get this year behind me. The hardest year I have ever lived through but a very peaceful one and I don't take things for granted anymore I have learned to appreciate and be greatful for everything and the one thing I learned is that being openminded about things leads to finding joy when I would have least expected it. Lesson....... don't expect things and be willing to find God's will in the plan and then just finding joy.

[Mark75]

Hi meditation... Like I've mentioned, I am just past the 1 year mark. It is a big deal!! It was challenging but very meaningful and rewarding.... Let me be the one to present you with a I year chip...



Now go have some cake...

Mark

[meditation]

Nice... see what I mean...... don't expect it and you get this honking big beautiful chip presented by a super nice guy..... life is good. Thank you Mark. ring

[tricky164]

cubile 75,

couldnt you have gotten a bigger token ?

god bless.

[Sugah]

Lot of different ways of doing things...

Here, most meetings have "anniversaries" at the beginning of the meeting, though it's not a big production, just part of the format of the meeting. Some meetings drag it out, asking "does anyone have one month?" "two?" etc. At my home group, we ask if anyone has 24 hours or is attending their first meeting, then "does anyone else have an anniversary?" The whole thing takes less than three minutes. The only time we've done cake is when a home group member reaches a year, because that is a big deal.

Someone celebrating a year is often "tagged" after the meeting to give a lead. One of the groups in our district is a speaker meeting, so they are asked to speak at that meeting, not the one where they get their coin.

Sometimes but not always, someone "special" will be chosen to give the coin, often a sponsor. Both my children have been involved in giving coins. My daughter went to a meeting with me every day, so my first home group conspired behind my back for her to give me my one year coin. She wasn't yet ten years old. It was very powerful for me, and, I'm sure, for the women from the half-way house separated from their own children. My son gave one of my sponsees her one year coin. She got sober the day he was hit by a car. She arrived on the scene less than a minute later, drunk, and realized she could have been the one to hit him. He said he'd be glad to have his other leg broken if it would help someone else get sober.

My coins are important to me. I used to carry my current-year coin with me, but I don't do that anymore. It's on a little prayer altar I made. I do, however, carry a 24 hour coin with me. I've lost track of how many times I've given it away to others, and I always replace it. It helps me to remember I can only live in the "right now."

Why do we give coins and who do we give them for? I think we do it for all of us, that the coin is for all of us. I've been in meetings, feeling a bit of spiritual fatigue, and I see someone getting a coin for a period of sobriety, and it's lifted me back up again. Early on, the multiple year (hell, the multiple month!) anniversaries were sources of hope for me. Now, to see folks get one, three, five years--folks I spoke to at their first meetings when they were still shaking and quaking--I feel a renewed sense of responsibility that we must continue to carry the message, that we must remain united in our message, else surely folks will die.

Anyway, congrats, meditation, on your one year! It is an amazing journey.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[aasharon90]

Hi Im Sharon and Im an Alcoholic.

By the grace of my HP and
people like u here in SR I
havent found it necessary
to pick up a drink of alcohol
since 8-11-90.

For that and you I am
truely grateful.

It's awesome to read
other members experiences
strengths and hopes
on ur topic.

By sharing that we take
what we need and leave
the rest.


Ive experiences the formal
chip presentation, having
family with me, recieving
my chip at the end or
beginning of each month
for all that months birthdays,
to having a friend present
it to me on my choice of
meeting, before or after the
meeting, to what Ive been
doing the past few yrs.


When i moved to relocate
my sponsor would mail me
my chip with a nice card
and small gift.


When i was by myself Id
go to Ebay in search of
my own chip. Buying my own
chip is just a simple way of re-
cieving self gratification.

Today my spouse goes to
the central office and gets
me my chip and personally
gives it to me and we'd go
out to eat.

Today it's all about simplicity
and what works for me may
not work for others.

There's no set rules in chip
giving.

The chip will not keep me
sober, however its working
and incorperating the principles
and steps of our awesome
program into my everyday
affairs.

The chip is a small token
for staying sober, but its
the willingness, open-mindedness,
and honesty of living
sober or clean for one
day at a time that is truely
rewarding,