Livingonwishes

Hello all,

I've just got home from my Thursday AA meeting (Oh and as an aside to all those who kindly offered me advice on sharing I did share for the first time last week and it felt amazing!!!) and I am feeling torn and a little upset.

Basically we had a newbie who turned up about 10 minutes after the meeting started and it was obvious from the start that he had been drinking. He didn't really participate in the meeting but when we were packing up myself and another male member gave him our numbers and tried to convince him to accept a lift home. He declined.

A couple of the female members also tried to convince him to accept a lift and he declined saying he had spoken to his parents and they were picking him up. None of us believed him but we couldn't prove anything.

My question is do you think we should have called the police? I am sure all of us could remember times we had driven under the influence and I don't know if that affected the way we handled the situation. I did return to the car park where we left him about 20 minutes later with the intention of driving him home but both he and his car had gone.

No doubt we will be faced with similar situations in the future but it is so hard to know what the right course of action is.

Any thoughts and comments would be gratefully received

Thanks for listening

Dandelion12

I think Ive now heard everything.

No.

Cop calling now at meetings?

No.

Anna

This is just me, but yes, I think we need to intervene whenever we see someone who has been drinking get into a car to drive. It's a responsibility we have to our fellow man, including the person who was drinking.

Stable

Dandelion12

What happened to the "anonymous"?

Please dont misunderstand, I dont drive drunk, no DUI's (I only drank at home), and certainly dont agree with drunk driving, however...

You actually went back to check?

IDK, good question I suppose because Im wondering if it violates any of the principals AA is governed by/founded on?

least

Just my opinion, but I think anonymity goes out the window when public safety is at risk.

MyLittleHorsie

Technically, nobody saw him drive.

The moment he sat in the driver's seat and was in care and control, the police should have been called. Of nobody stuck around it is moot.

At that point, it is public safety.

Please for the love of goodness if you know or suspect a drunk driver, call it in.

Dandelion12

Maybe a notice to that effect should be put up on the door to let the still sick and suffering know what happens if they keep coming back drunk

I guess the BB doesnt cover this as well as the 13 steppers

lessgravity

This is absurd I'm sorry. Assuming this guy was going to drive drunk, no one was calling the police to report his struggles with alcohol. Going to an AA meeting doesn't somehow remove someone from society at large. If the guy was going to drive drunk, cops should be called.

Dandelion12

I dont go to AA meetings for a variety of reasons, and Im going to bow out of this thread and read my Refuge recovery book. I dont do drama anymore.

DontRemember

Were they 'drunk' or had been drinking? "One's too many to drive" is my opinion nowadays,BUT.. There is a difference. If I called the cops on every person that has a couple beers with dinner, I'd be a busy man. I also will 'caution' folks on the holier than thou mindset in early recovery.. Been there and done that 'ish! If anyone should not be driving,figure out how YOU want to handle it..

DontRemember

who said he was drunk? That's the problem here.. It's personal perspective..

lessgravity

True, I'm assuming he was drunk for the sake of arguing that an AA meeting doesn't protect anyone from driving drunk. If this was a Boy Scout meeting or a bingo game - if someone has had too much to drink, call the cops on 'em.

Action

A drunk in a car driving, to hell with AAs anonymity I've got kids and family members on the road. I will turn anybody into the law for drunk driving and have done so. That's one thing I didn't do myself.

kinzoku

It sounds to me like you did what you could, there isn't always a right answer. As long as you acted with compassion.