Originally Posted by Boleo

I too have mixed feelings for Special composition groups. We have Alano Clubs designed to look and feel like bars complete with most of the amenities found at a typical bar. They have pool tables, vending machines, card tables and pinball machines. They even had cigarette machines when the law allowed them. Now they have heated/air-conditioned tents set up outside for smokers. I don't exactly feel unsafe in them (went to thousands of similar places while drinking) except I do hold onto my wallet while I am in there. They also have card-sharks, pool hustlers, con-men, prostitutes, pick-pockets and drug dealers. On the positive side, these clubs offer 3 - 5 AA meetings a day and can be a potential source for sponsee's if you can set up healthy boundary's to protect yourself from the con-artists. There are also meetings where ALL the closest parking spots are reserved for motorcycles only. I don't even need to go into meetings like that to figure out that they are special-composition-groups. There is a meeting with a typical sounding AA group name listed in the directory that attracted me because it had a name that sounded "nice". It was held in a D.A.V. hall with lots of flags on the building. That did not put me off though as I am a Vet myself. Within 5 seconds of walking in the door, an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair welcomed me by saying "If you expect to bring that Big Book in here we will shove it up your a$$. I left immediately and never went back. I found out later that it is not safe to go there if you want to talk about 12 steps, God or anything remotely spiritual. It is 100% about warstories of the real war kind. There is a "Men's group" where I was told you can use as much colorful language as you want without offending anyone. I tried it once and it looked like a place I could feel at home at. Until they were in the middle of reading the preamble and got to the part where it says "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking". A tough looking guy wearing 98% leather and 2% chains jumped up and yelled "I'll shoot the first SOB that says otherwise!". I asked what looked like a good-old-timer after the meeting what that was about? He said "Don't worry about that guy, he says that at every meeting and hasn't produced a gun yet". I got to thinking, "Would a church put up with a guy like that? Would any group of sane people put up with a guy like that? Isn't it a crime to shout something like that in a crowd of people?" I never went back because drama and chaos is not what I am now looking for. There is a cluster of special-purpose-groups that call themselves "The Dignitaries" that I have a love/hate relationship with. They practice "Tough Love", encourage cross-talk and peck apart newcomers by interrupting them and telling them when their BS is spattering everyone else's shoes. At first I thought they were being mean spirited and drove away newcomers in droves. But after watching them for a while, I saw that they truly are a "Men's Support Group". They say they are not just a meeting and I now believe it. They help each other outside the meeting with rides, jobs, housing and legal advice at a level way beyond the average meeting. I am starting to rethink my judgement of them. There is some history about them at: Brownie's and the Dignitaries Sympathy Groups