Notices

A New Low At The AA Club......

Old 12-04-2012, 12:22 PM
  # 21 (permalink)  
Its_me_jen
 
PaperDolls's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Salina, Ks
Posts: 8,547
Originally Posted by Fernaceman View Post
SB, some of us (myself) have had mostly positive experiences with clubs.
I have too. I will never understand why people are so down on AA clubs.
PaperDolls is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 01:28 PM
  # 22 (permalink)  
*Grateful*
 
Lily's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,619
I guess that doesn't really surprise me. We have all sorts of folks that come to our local Alano club here in Central WI. Not everyone has the same motives as me, to recover. We have some small square lockers here at ours w/ each meetings items in the lockers. A couple years back a gal cut the locks and stole the treasure monies from a few of them. I do not remember how she was caught. She was arrested and banned from the club for year. She is back and appears to be doing great in her recovery.
Lily is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 01:49 PM
  # 23 (permalink)  
It`s ok to stay sober
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Central NC
Posts: 20,902
Originally Posted by yeahgr8 View Post
Not the best of ideas to have a jar full of money sitting around in a room full of drunks is it?! The group might want to have a group conscience and write that one down for future reference.
I was thinking the same thing
why have it there so someone could steal it?

a jarful of cash is just asking for trouble
Tommyh is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 05:53 PM
  # 24 (permalink)  
1000 Post Club
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midwest USA
Posts: 2,284
Well, I do want to share that the club has over 60 meetings a week and some good recovery. It's just that there are a few shelters nearby & some go to the club just to "warm up" for the day. I just want him to be prosecuted. Some folks were talking about finding him on the street to "teach him a lesson"
BTW, the jar was super glued to a table and a camera was directly on it. There are several good quality cameras throughout the building because of the problems we had.
Justfor1 is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 06:02 PM
  # 25 (permalink)  
Getting there!!
 
LoveMeNow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 5,750
Wow, I am still speechless at the "I wont pray for him." Thankfully, many others will and God loves him as much as he does you.

IMO, your post and attitude (and they behavior of others as you claim) give the group a bad name, not the man who took the money. JMO
LoveMeNow is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 06:17 PM
  # 26 (permalink)  
Member
 
todd6138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Huntington, WV
Posts: 225
Clubhouse saved my life. I think its pretty dumb to expect any less. Take homeless people and hand out crack rock candy for xmas next time.
todd6138 is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 06:22 PM
  # 27 (permalink)  
Member
 
shaun00's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: uk
Posts: 2,548
Some folks were talking about finding him on the street to "teach him a lesson"
I suspect he will do a good enough job all on his own....

Thats terrible, But something i would have done at the drop of a hat...there was no choice, i had to drink.

I used to get on the moral high ground about drink drivers till someone reminded me how id strap my daughter in the car and drive drunk...happy in the knowledge id strapped her real tight and safe, last time i was arrested and imprisoned, 5 times over the legal UK limit....yep real considerate dad when drinking.

Im not saying its right, and its sad for the kiddies....but let he whom without sin cast the first stone .
If my anger continued...id get a piece of paper out and draw out 4 columns.
shaun00 is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 07:04 PM
  # 28 (permalink)  
1000 Post Club
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midwest USA
Posts: 2,284
I just don't understand why we give "free passes" to folks in addiction who commit crimes. Are criminal acts ever acceptable? Who knows maybe I'm a hypocrite. I have a criminal past but accept it for what it was. I was sick but I was an anti-social parasite of society. This guy does not get a free pass from me.
Justfor1 is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 07:08 PM
  # 29 (permalink)  
Member
 
TSDD's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Posts: 367
The real tragedy is when/if the guy actually decides he's had enough with drinking he's likely going to be too ashamed to ever show his face in AA to find help.

I wouldn't turn my back on a pack of Newports in an AA club, much less a jar full of cash..... good God, that's a little naive of the group IMO
TSDD is offline  
Old 12-04-2012, 09:41 PM
  # 30 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,126
If you read the New York GSO guidelines on intergroup money matters, the first question after the guidelines is, "What do you do if the treasurer steals the money?"

It happens all the time. GSO's suggestion is to get over it, move on, and half the time the thief will stumble back into the rooms. Sure, report it to the police. But beat the guy? Really?
MemphisBlues is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 04:13 AM
  # 31 (permalink)  
Member
 
ANEWAUGUST's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Sunny South
Posts: 1,666
This guy doesn't need a free pass from you.

The crime was reported to the police. It is the job of the police to investigate and arrest this man/woman.

The club took the right action, now it is in the hands of the police.

Moving along....
ANEWAUGUST is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 04:53 AM
  # 32 (permalink)  
Trudger of Happy Destiny
 
Fernaceman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Naperville, IL
Posts: 1,918
Originally Posted by MemphisBlues View Post
If you read the New York GSO guidelines on intergroup money matters, the first question after the guidelines is, "What do you do if the treasurer steals the money?"

It happens all the time. GSO's suggestion is to get over it, move on, and half the time the thief will stumble back into the rooms. Sure, report it to the police. But beat the guy? Really?
It does happen all the time. People get blinded by money. Money is a crazy demon in itself. Makes people do things they normally wouldn't do. Sounds a lot like alcoholism, actually.

And if the person who steals it truly wants to recover one day, they will own up and admit what happened.
Fernaceman is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 06:26 AM
  # 33 (permalink)  
Fellow Traveler and Seeker
 
paul99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 2,408
I used to get on the moral high ground about drink drivers till someone reminded me how id strap my daughter in the car and drive drunk...happy in the knowledge id strapped her real tight and safe, last time i was arrested and imprisoned, 5 times over the legal UK limit....yep real considerate dad when drinking.
Exact same thing happened to me, except the jail. Blew lethal levels of booze in blood. I would rail against drunk drivers and there I am the poster boy for a serial drinker and driver. Insanity, indeed.

I used to scrounge through people's coats and in my car for any loose change - anything - so I could get a can or bottle. So what happened at the club doesn't phase me, camera or no camera, glue or no glue.

I am also not surprised, yet disappointed, at the lack of compassion that something like this brings up in some members. We fail to forget our past trespasses, and live on a moral higher ground, when it was only a year ago that we stole from grandma and hocked some of her stuff for booze money. There were many people who looked upon me with compassion in the many years I was sick. I can only start to repay that love and compassion by doing the same for others.
paul99 is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 06:29 AM
  # 34 (permalink)  
Fellow Traveler and Seeker
 
paul99's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 2,408
I was sick but I was an anti-social parasite of society. This guy does not get a free pass from me.
You sound very hard on yourself. Self forgiveness is a very important product of the step work we do...
paul99 is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 06:34 AM
  # 35 (permalink)  
Recoveringed
 
KnowHope's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Thump
Posts: 409
A chairperson of a local meeting here recently drank our 7th tradition of about $275. It's a very small group of 2-6 people with rent that runs about $25 per weekly meeting, so that money was pretty significant to the group. When the chairperson admitted to a member that he had taken and drank through the money, he was a week or two sober. He didn't get a berating. Rather, he got a hug and he was slipped another $65 into his hand. THAT is the kind of fellowship I am grateful to be a part of.

Like they used to say in the old days in some meetings when the basket was being passed around: Friend, if you need one, take one.
KnowHope is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 07:14 AM
  # 36 (permalink)  
Member
 
omegasupreme's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: The Trenches, Texas
Posts: 778
Since I was already copying and pasting this to another thread what's one more:

COLUMN THREE

Self Esteem: I am (or see myself as):______________________________________________ ___.

Pride: No one should see the following being done to me:__________________________________________.

Ambition: What I want but think I am losing is _____________________________________________.

Emotional Security: To feel okay, I need for this person to________________________________________________ ________.

Financial Security: My financial security is threatened in this deal because_______________________________.

Relations by sex: I think women should____________________________________________ _______.

Personal Relations: Those close to me should see that I am___________________________________________.

COLUMN FOUR

Selfish-(I want to keep what I have, so here's how I was selfish)


Self-Seeking-(I also want what others have, so here's where I was seeking for myself rather than giving to another)


Dishonest-(The real truth is that...___________________________________________ __)
deceived her:________________________________________
deceived myself:_______________________________________

Fear-(What I'm really worried about or afraid of that is driving me to behave the way I'm behaving is???)

Insanity-(Here are the things about my behavior and feelings that are really insane in this deal):
__________________________________________________ _________________________
omegasupreme is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 08:43 AM
  # 37 (permalink)  
Getting there!!
 
LoveMeNow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 5,750
If anything at all comes out of this thread....To me, it is a honest assessment of what real recovery looks like and who is practicing the principles of the program in their daily life....and those who are not.

I thank those who show me how the program can really work, if you sincerely work it.
LoveMeNow is offline  
Old 12-05-2012, 09:54 AM
  # 38 (permalink)  
1000 Post Club
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Midwest USA
Posts: 2,284
Originally Posted by paul99 View Post
You sound very hard on yourself. Self forgiveness is a very important product of the step work we do...
I have very little compassion for others. When I was in my addiction I received very little sympathy. In & out of hospitals,treatment centers, recovery homes and jail. It helps me stay sober to realize that I was a true criminal besides a "sick' alcoholic.
Justfor1 is offline  
Old 12-06-2012, 07:21 AM
  # 39 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 69
Cant believe some of the stuff Im reading. Talk about judging the man. And Im not talking about the thief. The original poster is getting ridden rock solid and judged from nearly every poster.

Anyone would think the original poster stole the money, killed three puppys and blew up a church. Give the man a break and stop judging him.

Practice what you preach and all that.
sobersanity is offline  
Old 12-06-2012, 07:35 AM
  # 40 (permalink)  
Member
 
omegasupreme's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: The Trenches, Texas
Posts: 778
Originally Posted by sobersanity View Post
Cant believe some of the stuff Im reading. Talk about judging the man. And Im not talking about the thief. The original poster is getting ridden rock solid and judged from nearly every poster.

Anyone would think the original poster stole the money, killed three puppys and blew up a church. Give the man a break and stop judging him.

Practice what you preach and all that.
Not so much buddy. The OP seems to be "fighting for their life" in that theatre of the lie. This matter of resentments is infinitely grave to alkies of the type AA is for. I can only speak for me, my post was from a position of love. I've been there. Either all my troubles are of my own making or they aren't. When I struggle to see that I have to do some writing and praying and then via another alky God reveals my selfish insanity to me.

If we were to live we had to be free of anger. Two parties involved in this scenario. The poster and the thief. Only one is here inquiring about experience.
omegasupreme is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:54 AM.