There are some wonderful meetings in the suburbs: well-attended, a wealth of experience, good sobriety and good discussion. Unfortunately, city meetings are sometimes a different story.
I chair the 6:30 pm Thursday New Beginnings Big Book meeting at the Open Door Club on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury. The location is on the fringe of downtown. There are eleven AA meetings there each week, four of which are in the evening. Many who attend are newcomers. Many are residents of one of the local treatment facilities. Many arrive on foot, sometimes walking from clear across town, sometimes in rather difficult weather. Some come because they are told to. Some come because they "feel" they need to. Some even come because they want to. All need the hand of AA to be there when they get there. Sad to say, that is not always so.
Last night was a case in point. A newcomer arrived at 6:25 and we spoke for a few minutes and opened the meeting together at the appointed time. After the preliminaries, we started on our reading , at which time we were joined by a second young man, a resident of a local facility and our only "regular" attendee. A short while later a young married woman, who had attended AA previously, joined us, bringing the total to four. We read "To Employers" and then each shared what we had to share. As chair, I led off, on principle, with a few brief comments on the text, but with the idea in mind that there was not a great interest in a lecture from me. I believe strongly that the chairperson should NOT be the one doing most of the sharing. The focus of the rest of the sharing was as one might expect, on what was going on in the immediate lives of each of the other three. That is as it must be. Each needed to participate and to feel welcome and safe doing so. After all, we would like for them each to return. However, what saddened me was that there was no one present, aside from myself, with any substantial time in the program and experience working the steps. There was no one for me to call on with enough time to have some real experience, strength and hope to share with this small band of newcomers. Where was the hand of AA? Where was the voice of experience, strength and hope? Safe in the suburbs, I suppose.
Just as there are newcomers in Waterbury reaching out for help, there are surely those who are doing the same in cities all around the state. Won't you please take a trip into a city, any city, and help fill the empty chairs. We are all responsible and we are all needed. Thanks.
Tom W., Waterbury, 10/3/08
The Pledge: When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that I am responsible. -30th Anniversary International Convention