firestorm090

Without knowing why he left, I wonder why she would comment at all. Maybe he had a reason to leave early that he didn't feel was anyone's business, so he just left. I've done that at meetings, and I feel no need to expalin myself to everyone, I just get up and go.

Don't know how leaving a meeting would qualify one as being dry or sober, seems like quite a stretch.

And if he's at an AA meeting and hasn't drank in 25 yrs, well he must be doing something right.

Kmber2010

Trixie - I wouldn't let this deter you from working your own path of recovery. I have found it best not to let the one bad apple spoil the bunch. I would continue to go and enjoy and simply choose not to sit near this person or turn the conversation into something positive.

All the best!

LexieCat

I agree with DayTrader. I don't know the entire context, so I think judging her too harshly is as wrong as any judgment she may have been making.

None of us is perfect. "We are not saints."

When I first came into AA I felt let down by a few people I had up on mental pedestals. She didn't return my call, they didn't invite me to the diner afterward, that group over there seemed to ignore me. By sticking around, I learned that we are all works in progress.

Mark75

I don't know. Does anyone?

What I do know is.... my journey was very difficult in the early days, and, on some days, it still is. If anyone who struggles with this program has moments that are less than graceful.... I feel it is our responsibility to pray for him (or her) and to be there with a hand outstretched and a smile... Tolerance... I heard something about that in the rooms of AA.

Let's have a moment of silence for those who are still sick and suffering, both inside and outside of the rooms....

augustwest

leaving a meeting early doesn't necessarily indicate someones lack of a "program" but harshly judging someone in public is clearly an example of not "practicing these principles in all our affairs."

none of us are perfect. i try to mind my own business, stick with those who model what i want in recovery, and still listen with compassion to everybody.

i do know that in my experience, just meeting attendance did not equal recovery. abstinence only changed the primary symptom of my disease. the solution has been in the steps.

keithj

It depends on what you mean by 'matter', Trixie. If you can be content and remain sober, it doesn't matter a bit. That's the goal, right?

The whole purpose of the AA program of recovery (the 12 Steps) is to help those who can not seem to stay sober and content without that program of recovery.

The early founders of AA offered a very specific and precise set of directions for a way of life that assured sobriety and contentment for those that practiced it.

If you can achieve that without practicing that way of life, more power to you. It doesn't matter at all.

I, and many alcoholics like me, found that we needed to actually follow those directions and practice that way of life. Until I did that, I was a time bomb in the rooms. Every day moving closer to that next drink, even if I wasn't aware of it.

I will add that the majority of voices in AA who say they don't need the 12 Steps, have little idea of what they are talking about. They are saying that they don't need an experience they have never had. How would they know what it's about if they have never experienced it?

Maybe that's an experience that is vital to your recovery and maybe it's not. Time will tell.