DagwoodIII

Be seeing you.

The Governor is missing a great opportunity to play to the Christian Right.

“This is obviously a sign from G%d. I have prayed and decided to pardon this woman, because that is the will of the Lord!”

The MAGats know that he’s a human cesspool, but they’ll come up with excuses so they don’t have to admit how awful he is.

I saw a dozen posts yesterday where apologists were saying it was just a joke or he was being misunderstood.

Uncle Fester started the hole by shooting off a cannon through the wall.

Once they realized that they could have that great view they called in the workmen to finish off the job.

So, he’s got War and Plague and Death.

Just needs a Famine card.

There’s one local group called ‘Never Had A Legal Drink.’ People who decided to get sober before they turned 21.

Also, the International Conference of Young People In AA.

https://www.icypaa.org/

Start with the online meetings.

Plenty of ‘Zoom babies’ got sober during Covid without ever meeting in real life.

https://www.nyintergroup.org/meetings/?type=active

That’s just the New York ones.

The booziest towns have the best sobriety.

New York, New Orleans, Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco all have tons of meetings.

It’s one day at a time. Sometimes, it’s one minute at a time.

Search out the right meetings and get a bunch of phone numbers.

I once called a guy and told him that I was practicing making calls. He got it.

My mom told me this one in second grade.

Johnny is reading a book. Asks the teacher what the word ‘frugal’ means.

“It means 'to save.”

Later that day the teacher asks Johnny to tell the class a story.

“Once upon a time a dragon came out of the woods and captured the princess. As he carried her away she screamed 'frugal me, frugal me.”

I know people who got sober while working in bars and restaurants.

I’ll never say it isn’t tough, because I needed a 28 day ‘vacation’ and constant job testing to dry out and get my feet on the path.

But with the right team, anything is possible.

“Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch…”

What do you think is in those bunches?

Hint. It’s bananas

‘…land to till.’

You till land, you don’t toil it.

[pun intended]

I heard this story from an oldtimer.

Back in the day, he was in a cheap hotel in Philadelphia. There was a bar in the lobby.

He spent all night holding onto the bed, because he knew if he let himself get up he’d drink.

My first few months I went to speaker meetings so I’d hear stories like that.

You can go to an online meeting. Name yourself ‘Just Listening’. Most will let you leave the camera off. As long as you don’t interrupt you can stay. You can also message the host if you want to know more. Each meeting is differnet, and Zoom bombers have been a problem, but generally newcomers are given plenty of leeway.

Good luck

I guess we’re not that friendly.

🥵

‘Closed’ means that only people with a drinking problem can come in.

“Open” means that you can bring a friend, or that anyone with an interest in the program can come in. Anniversary meetings are usually open so people’s families can come.

“Meditation” means that they dim the lights and silently meditate.

“Speaker” means someone shares their personal journey for 15 minutes or so.

“Literature” means they read from The Big Book, the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions, or other AA books.

Another jargon you’ll hear is ‘sponsor.’ A sponsor is an AA who you feel comfortable with. Some people pick a temporary sponsor at their first meeting. Other people wait until they feel comfortable. It took me two years before I got one.

Most meetings take a minute at the start to ask if there is anyone new to the meeting. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. If you’re online you can usually send a private message to the host and ask for phone numbers or information.

My suggestion for you would be to find a seven day a week meeting you can get to every day. It can be early morning before work/school; or at noon on your meal break; or before you go to bed. I started out going to the same meeting every day after work and a couple of weekend meetings near me. Other people like to drop in whenever they feel the need. Some newcomers spend all day in meetings. Personally, I could only handle one a day at the start.

I’ve gotten pretty friendly with the woman who manages to self checkout area.

Search ‘AA Intergroup [the name of the city]’ The website will list all the local meetings, live and online.

I go to a 6 am Zoom meeting that gets people from all over.

Also, the bigger places usually have a variety of meetings. Men only; women only; young people; LGBTQ+; etc.

Finally, don’t worry about the jargon. A lot of people like to talk about the Steps, The Program, The Big Book. It can be overwhelming, but it all comes down to one person sharing their own truth. Good luck

Get the Everything AA app and the Meeting Guide app.

Everything AA is a yellow background with a blue triangle and circle. Meeting guide is a white chair on a blue background. Both are free to get in any app store.

Everything AA has all the literature and connects you to 24 hour Zoom meetings. I like big city meetings because you get a diverse crowd.

Meeting Guide will help you locate meetings near you.

And I’ve seen people walk into meetings with less than one day sober.

It’s easier to stay stopped when you hear other people’s stories and realize how much you have in common with them. Good luck!