When someone shows up to a meeting still drunk..
 

I went to a meeting last night and a guy came in still drunk and not just drunk but pretty bombed. Of course he wanted to share his words of wisdom if it where me I probably would have been inclined too as well course I woulda never made it to a meeting so kudos to him for that!

It raised a lot of questions in my head like gee How often does this happen? How common is this? what the proper course of action? what if this guy gets a bit out of control?

The look on the faces of everyone in the room was like "OMG" one lady how ever had this total look of compassion for the guy. I thought I see it i get it you want to have compassion for this man but how when he's not in his right frame of mind.

He was talking out of turn and such and was leaving hte meeting and coming back leaving and coming back.

I guess it was just awkward. But then I get to thinking how did i make others feel when i was drunk? did they feel embaressed to be around me? awkward? who had compassion for me and who didnt?

Anyone here ever drunk at a meeting?

Just curious everyones thoughts this was a first for me. maybe its common i dont get to meetings too often so I dunno.

The lady with the look of compassion had a good point tho that really struck a chord with me.

She rambled on about how you could loose a job or someone dies or your car breaks down etc.. She says thats just life stuff happens its gonna stink sometimes thats how it is but that doesnt mean your whole universe has to implode.

I thought geeze I wish someone would have smacked me with that statement 8321392138921312 times till if igured it out. For years whenever something even slightly bad happened its like i'm reaching for the self destruct button in one way or another. Even now at times I'm like no no no back away fromt hat button its just a skinned knee now calm down.

No I have never been drunk at a meeting.

I don't have a problem with someone being drunk at a meeting, providing they are not trying to beat anybody up or extremely obnoxious, and they did not drive themselves there.

Why wouldn't someone who is drunk be at an AA meeting?

It is a common occurrence at the meetings I attend.They are treated with love and compassion.

They are not allowed however to disrupt the meeting,if they do some of the members will go outside with them to talk in private.

I've been at AA meetings when drunk people were present. As long as they aren't a physical danger to those around them or disrupting the meeting they were allowed to stay. I was at a meeting where a person was removed too.

It's no different than SR or any other group when you think of it. Some people show up here drunk and post while they are drunk. As long as it's not disruptive they are allowed to continue posting, but if they become a major distraction or belligerent/aggressive they are blocked/banned for a period of time.

Remember, we are all alcoholics and some alcoholics are active alcoholics. It doesn't mean they aren't seeking or worthy of help.

I saw it often when I was going to AA meetings, haven't seen it in other groups but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It happens in online meetings of all flavors pretty often, and as a facilitator what I'll do is quietly ask them to remain silent and listen so they don't disrupt the meeting. I don't think I ever drank before a meeting, but I certainly used to go home and drink after AA meetings, which is really not much better.

yeah i was terrified the first time I went to AA that i'd be inclined to hit one of my favorite bars that just so happened to be around the corner on the way home. I figured after talking about booze for an hour i'll be thirsty maybe I shouldnt go..

Sounds like this is more common then I realize.

I'm glad he came and he wasnt too bad. I dunno why i personally would go to an AA meeting while smashed other then if i was forced too or I was being a smart A$$.

it was his first time there he said. So who knows maybe he'll be back again and sober or not.

It had me thinking about compassion. Feeling compassion i felt as if there is nothing i could do for the guy till he drys out short of being polite and respectful.

I just sat there and assumed some of the elders who are far more knowledgeable about this sort of thing then me would just handle whatever issue might arise.

I have never seen anybody drunk at a meeting, but I have smelled alcohol sometimes. Now, at the meeting I now go to, there is a bulletin board in the back of the room that has a section set aside for "no trespassing" orders for people that I guess showed up drunk and were kicked out. A guy I knew was banned for 6 months because he was caught drinking outside the meeting. Seems to me kicking someone out of a meeting because they were drinking seems counterproductive, unless they were very disruptive. John

My last drink was before my first AA meeting, yes, been in meetings with drunks. What I've always seen is, they are handled according to tradition 3- have a desire to stop drinking, if they bring that with them, then they are 'treated' reactively to their abilities/behavior, after all, we are all unique, and certainly that is more true when we are drunk !!!

https://www.*****.com/parenting/daug...018369792.html

Sort of off topic but shows that the homeless are also like the elephant int he room at times but they are still someones brother mother son daughter etc... Also shows how out of some crap situations a bright new futre can blossom.

I always figure you need crap to grow nice flowers.

I don't know if someone's been drunk at any of the meetings I've been to. Nobody like that.

Some years ago before I was even remotely interested in being sober I "did a favor" for someone who was court ordered to attend meetings and pretended I was that person to get a slip signed for them. I smoked a joint in the car before going in.

All these ladies came up to me at the break and bombarded me with questions. I knew they knew I was high, but I had no interest in even pretending to have a conversation with them. I must have though because I left the meeting with a list of local meetings with one of the ladies name and phone number written on it that I kept in the glove box of my car for more than a year. When I finally decided I might actually consider being sober that list was still there. I resented that lady, so I ripped the corner of the page off where her name was and threw it away, but I kept the list.

Years ago I was asked to write the wording in the Preamble for an AA meeting that was having difficulties with folks who were attending under the influence. This meeting seemed to attract an inordinate amount of actively drunk attendees and it was causing a rift in the group over how to handle these people.

Mindful of the fact that a desire to stop drinking is the condition for membership and not having achieved abstinence I felt that as a group we should reaffirm the welcome to those who are still suffering, but also needed to provide an environment that was orderly for those who came without a drink. It was really simple and if I can remember that preamble now it went something like this.,

"We welcome all who have a desire to stop drinking and invite you to participate and contribute your experience strength and hope as well as ask questions of the group that you may have regarding alcoholism and how it relates to your life. In order that all present may benefit from their experience today we ask that if you have had any alcohol in the past 12 hours that you refrain from sharing during this meeting. We invite you to talk with one of our members after the meeting as we are here to assist you as others have assisted us. Thank you."

After the meeting began if someone who was intoxicated insisted on disrupting the meeting it was not unusual for one or more members to invite that individual to have a cup of coffee outside the meeting on the steps of the building. After awhile the issue was not an issue and we felt that we honored the traditions and intent of AA.

Just my experience.

Jon

What a wonderful reminder of where I was back then when I drank.....but for the grace of a higher power........

yeah i thought the same

I've been going to meetings for about a year now, and yes I have seen some folks there who were either drunk or high.

During this year-long period I have shown up to a meeting drunk only once. And I went into the bathroom during the meeting and drank more. Wow, that feels really good to get out there; I've never told anyone that before.

Why did I go to that meeting? Well, I was a few days into a binge and had called into work sick, so I decided to attend a daytime meeting that I had been regularly attending before I got my job. I had this plan that going to this meeting would help to give me the hope to stop drinking that day. That I would quietly sit there in the back of the room and somehow "absorb" what everyone had to say. Doesn't make sense, right? Yeah, that's because I had already been drunk for two continuous days.

What I didn't count on was that people would remember my face and come up to me and immediately start talking and asking questions like where/how have I been. I also didn't count on running into a guy who had helped me with a previous slip before being there and insisting I sit in the very front row with him.

Why did I slip into the bathroom and have some whiskey? I don't really know, except that I was already pretty drunk (it was noon) and was full of self-pity. Self-pity is a big trigger for me, so I've learned to take a hard look at that.

No one called me out on smelling like alcohol, and no one questioned if I was still drinking in the meeting. I appreciated that. I went home and went immediately to bed, knowing that when I woke up again, I'd have to get myself sober. And I did.

Thank you for letting me share this, and for all of your posts. This is a very good topic and I'm surprised it isn't talked about more, at least at meetings, considering that we are trying to address a solution for a disease that is "cunning and baffling."

:c011:

Alcoholics are not the most honest people and I wonder how accurate his story is. If it's true that meeting is operating totaly out of AAs traditions.

“The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.” From the AA Traditions.
I’ll add that the person is a member when they say they are.
Stop and think of who wants an alcoholic still drinking around? Not the police, doctors, hospitals, bars, driving public, family and on and on.

Where are they welcome? At AA meetings as long as they are not disruptive.

For me it’s a remember when I was in that condition.

BE WELL

I understand what your saying, but all I know of the story is that I was walking up to the building and he was as usual sitting outside the meeting. Asked him how he was doing. He told me he was banned for six months because someone found an empty bottle of vodka next to him. He was drinking but didn't seem wasted and wasn't disruptive. Someone saw the bottle and that was that. John

To clarify what I said earlier about the guy that was banned for six months. I think what caused the ban was that he was drinking outside the building. At least I think that was the big problem. John