Originally Posted by
jazzfish 
I think sometimes all we can do is to let them know we are there and then be the example they may one day grasp on to.
This.
And what FreeOwl said.
I do hate it when I see people go back out, or when I see one very close friend, for example, drink even though he fully knows he is an alcoholic, has done different things to "stop" or control (ie only drinking at home when AL had a home game, so he wouldn't get drunk watching it at his fave bar - sigh)....BUT I say it often: I am ruthless about who gets a seat at my table, for real. Time, energy and emotion are rationed carefully in my world. This might sound ungenerous or snarly, and I am a very generous person in heart and soul, but I am even more protective of my sobriety- my emotional sobriety.
I don't understand spending time around "old friends" or former drinking buddies. I don't have the interest. Only people who are supportive of my sobriety and work for their own best lives (whether alcoholic or not) get my time and energy.
Bottom line regarding those who "should" get sober - it's not my side of the street and I have to maintain a line of caring distance.