Thanks for that Andrew.
The principle is so misunderstood. I had an experience yesterday at work that comes to mind, hopefully I can share it without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn.
The agency I work for houses the county detox and I happened to be in there doing some work in the dayroom yesterday. There's always a few alcoholics in various stages of detoxification sitting in there and me being who I am, I naturally end up talking with them or doing some subtle Twelfth-Step work.
Yesterday I was talking to this alcoholic, a man, and he was telling me about himself. The thought came to me that I knew someone near where he lives that he can connect with when he is released. So I called my friend Pat, who said sure, get me his phone number. So I did.
Long story short, one of the women who works in the detox is five years away from a drink, and this is going to sound really judgmental, but really untreated and doesn't have much of a clue about how to really work with these alcoholics. I came back in to tell the guy that my friend would be calling him and she is giving him a lecture about anonymity because he gave me his number.
I said to her "How in the hell are we supposed to help him if we can't contact him or him contact us? Anonymity isn't about being a secret. It means that I'm nothing special, that in AA I'm just a member and at work or to the public I'm just a regular guy."
I have to admit that I have some inventory to write here. It's about how some of the people that are so-called AA members in recovery that work in the field are more screwed up than the people they're trying to help.
Jim