Substance Abuse Alcoholics Anonymous Observation

Alcohol Anonymous Observation

Alcoholic Anonymous Observation

I had heard the parable before; "give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime." In many ways it had already resonated in my head, but this perspective was a skewed one from not having had to experience what it is like to be in a position not to want to help yourself. That was until I attended a local Alcohol Anonymous meeting, to discover so many people struggling with how to empower themselves beyond the dependent state of an addict.

The meeting was just at the tail end of the typical mid-week rush hour. The traffic was beginning to subside, as it was around 7:30 on a Wednesday evening. The location of the meeting was a small local church, of what Christian denomination I could not really ascertain. It was located off (PLEASE PUT IN THE NAMES OF LCOAL STREETS HERE). The church was much fuller than I would have expected, apparently this was a popular meeting, for it was so close to local bus lines and other mass transit systems, and thus many of the attendees attended several evening sessions a week on their way homes from their perspective jobs all around the city. The crowd was middle and older aged adults, many of whom looked as if they had families of their own. Still, there were a few younger participants, about three that I had counted that looked under 25 years of age. Out of these attendees, most were extremely shy, and none of them stood up to speak in front of their older counterparts, as many of the other older generations were happy to do. All in all, around 30 people attended the meeting that night, many of whom seemed to be regular attendees. As previously stated, the location was convenient to local transit options, and thus most people were on their way home from work. This meant that the majority of the attendees were middle to lower middle class socio-economic status. No one looked particular destitute, and none of the speakers made any mention that they were currently homeless. On the other hand, no one wore expensive looking clothes, and there were no luxury vehicles parked in the church parking lot. Thus, it was my assumption that most attendees were middle class.

The meeting was incredibly lively and open. Many of the attendees participated, many of whom seemed like they were regular speakers at this meeting among others held at that particular location. Many of the speakers were updating the larger group on their current progress as they continued down a path towards recovery. Many of whom were reaching milestones in their sobriety that they were extremely excited to share. Several of the older speakers mentioned how important their sobriety was to their families, some of whom were actually present in the larger group that attended the meeting. One particular gentleman stood out. He looked about mid-fifties, early sixties and was so excited to report his progress of closing in on eight months completely sober. He discussed a little about his old behaviors and how they hurt one of the most important people in his life -- his wife. He started choking up when he talked about how his drinking had hurt her, and was so proud of himself to have stopped his unhealthy behaviors, not just for himself, but for her as well. His speech in particular really stood out, because she was there waiting by his side when he came to his emotional finish. For me personally, it wasn't the verbatim of his speech that was so powerful, but rather the love and hope which I saw firsthand as he and his wife interacted after he was done speaking to the crowd. That was one of the highlights of the night, as a love that strong is something one rarely forgets.