People are so weird sometimes
Jul. 17th, 2010 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avanta7One of the things I decided after we moved here to Alabama was to get back into attending AA meetings on a regular basis. So I hunted up the Alabama Central Office website and found the schedule for a couple of groups in my local area.
I've been going to the women's meeting at one group every week for the last couple of months, and gotten to know a few of the women there on a more or less casual basis...as casual as it can be for people who sit around a table and discuss the state of their spirituality and sobriety for an hour each week....Anyway, to get to the point: At this group, the custom is, in the month of one's sobriety birthday, to write one's name on the whiteboard with the sobriety date and how many years. So, two weeks ago I added mine to the list: July 26, Angela V, 19 years.
Apparently, this action created a stir. At last week's meeting one of the other women told me "all these people" -- especially the men -- wanted to know who I was. "We don't know her! How can she have 19 years without us knowing her!" C said she told them I had recently moved to the area, that I had been coming to the women's meeting every week, and Yes, I'd really been sober that long. I guess women with that length of sobriety are rare in these parts...it's kind of odd being an "oldtimer."
I'd been thinking about adding another meeting to my weekly routine, especially since the group recently changed all their evening meetings to start at 6:00 PM. Sounds like showing up in the flesh at some time other than the women's meeting is necessary for allaying skepticism, but I don't like feeling like I've been put on the spot.
But still: "We don't know her! How can she have 19 years without us knowing her!" just cracks me up.
I've been going to the women's meeting at one group every week for the last couple of months, and gotten to know a few of the women there on a more or less casual basis...as casual as it can be for people who sit around a table and discuss the state of their spirituality and sobriety for an hour each week....Anyway, to get to the point: At this group, the custom is, in the month of one's sobriety birthday, to write one's name on the whiteboard with the sobriety date and how many years. So, two weeks ago I added mine to the list: July 26, Angela V, 19 years.
Apparently, this action created a stir. At last week's meeting one of the other women told me "all these people" -- especially the men -- wanted to know who I was. "We don't know her! How can she have 19 years without us knowing her!" C said she told them I had recently moved to the area, that I had been coming to the women's meeting every week, and Yes, I'd really been sober that long. I guess women with that length of sobriety are rare in these parts...it's kind of odd being an "oldtimer."
I'd been thinking about adding another meeting to my weekly routine, especially since the group recently changed all their evening meetings to start at 6:00 PM. Sounds like showing up in the flesh at some time other than the women's meeting is necessary for allaying skepticism, but I don't like feeling like I've been put on the spot.
But still: "We don't know her! How can she have 19 years without us knowing her!" just cracks me up.
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Date: Jul. 17th, 2010 10:44 pm (UTC)But still: "We don't know her! How can she have 19 years without us knowing her!" just cracks me up.
Well, of course! Doesn't everyone know everyone? That cracked me up, too.
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Date: Jul. 18th, 2010 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jul. 19th, 2010 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 01:18 pm (UTC)