Look, is AA perfect? Certainly not. In fact, I'm probably guilty of taking about 10 percent of it and leaving the other 90 percent.
But lets say we dismiss or strip away 90 percent. What still remains is a group of individuals who are Committed and Willing to Work their asses off for long-term or permanent sobriety no matter what.
I capitalized the three words above because there seems to be a fundamental disconnect from these concepts for the person in early recovery. The sober life takes work; it's not just simply stopping booze or drugs, and AA is a good catalyst and strong support network for the hard-ass work that sobriety requires.
I saw and heard a lot of things in bars that I would never see in the worst of AA meetings. Two drinking buddies stroked out, one had a heart attack and died 20 years early. I'm lucky I lived myself. Complaining about certain folks at AA meetings is sort of like complaining about a blemish on a Faberge Egg. It's still pretty damn good!
sorry about the rant...