I went to my first AA meeting drunk on my butt!!! It was just to get my wife off my back about my drinking. Funny thing, they did not throw me out!! Heck I had folks welcoming me, one guy gave me a Big Book & told me to keep coming back!
Well I went to my second AA meeting 5 years later while I was in detox, the people were just as friendly there as they were at the first meeting.
Elliot I have watched folks come to meeting after meeting drunk & then one day they got it!!! They showed up sober & were just as welcome as they were when they were drunk.
AA offers a SOLUTION, some of us do not want it and die, some of us take some time for the fog to clear enough to see that there is a SOLUTION in AA, others are simply not willing to do the work needed to hang around long enough for the miracle of the SOLUTION to happen, some of these folks make it back, others don't & die.
AA is not the only solution, but it has saved millions of us from jail, institutions, prison, & an early grave. The key I have found is honesty & a willingness to do what ever it takes to stay sober.