600 guides in moments in the room
A Bag by the Door You May Not Use
A bag is packed by the door and you may not use it. You can leave it there and spend one quiet hour in an Al-Anon meeting.
A Birthday Envelope and No Date
Someone handed you a birthday contribution envelope and you have no sobriety date, or you do not want a fuss. Membership is a desire to stop. No dues.
A Catalog Price Is Not the Chair
You saw prices in a literature catalog and stayed in the car. A catalog figure is not admission. You can sit with no book. Pamphlets are normally free.
A Child at a Closed Meeting
You brought a child because there was no other plan. A closed meeting is not a waiting room. You still need a meeting tonight, and you are not a bad parent.
A Church Basement, and You Are Muslim
The meeting is in a church basement and you are Muslim. The building is rented. You are welcome regardless of religion, and you need not join a prayer.
A City You Do Not Know
You are in a city you do not know and the evening is a hole. You can find a meeting from the hotel chair and only listen.
A Closed Meeting When You Are New
The listing says closed, and you think member means you already belong. Closed includes a desire to stop drinking. That desire is how you qualify tonight.
A Commercial, and Your Mouth
A commercial came on and your mouth went dry. You can change the channel and get to a meeting before the picture finishes the thought.
A Committee Cannot Cancel a Desire
You were told a committee can put you out. Leaders are trusted servants, and they do not govern. A committee does not cancel a desire to stop drinking.
A Court Slip at an AA Meeting
You have a court slip and you are afraid of being outed or turned away. Each group decides whether to sign. A referral line cannot sign it.
A Coworker Asked Why You Look Tired
A coworker asked why you look tired, and you almost told the truth. You can keep the office story small and still find an Al-Anon meeting tonight.
A Day Count That Felt Thin
You said a number of days and it sounded thin in the air. Leave it there. You do not have to inflate it, and you do not have to drink over the sound.
A First Night at an NA Meeting
You need a meeting about drugs, not a lecture about alcohol. NA meetings are run by and for people who want freedom from active addiction. Start with tonight.
A Fundraiser With the A.A. Name
A flyer with the A.A. name on a fundraiser is not yours to promote. Groups do not lend the name, and public solicitation with that name is dangerous.
A Local Pamphlet Is Still Allowed
A central office pamphlet does not say Conference-approved, and you think it is counterfeit. Local pieces can still be called A.A. literature.
A Loud Person Is Not the Whole Program
A loud person is filling the room and you are treating that voice as the program. Principles come before personalities. Take what helps and try another group.
A Loving God as He May Express Himself
Tradition Two names a loving God in the group conscience. You do not believe it, and you think it expels you. Leaders are trusted servants. They do not govern.
A Meeting Before the Morning Shift
You need a meeting before work and the list is a blur. Look for an early time and confirm it. If none fits, try a short phone meeting or plan on lunch.
A Meeting Before You Call Back
They want you to call back and you know how that call ends. Get to an NA meeting before you return it. The desire to stop using can go first.
A Meeting From a Locked Unit
You want a meeting from jail, prison, or a locked unit, or for someone you love who is there. A meeting is peer support, not a legal plan and not detox.
A Meeting in an Office Building
The meeting is in an office building after hours, and the lobby makes you feel unwelcome. The building is not A.A. Read the note about the door.
A Meeting While the Shower Runs
You have a few quiet minutes while they shower. Use them to find an Al-Anon meeting, or to sit in one. Do not start a fight through the door.
A Motel Room, Alone
You are alone in a motel room and the night is too quiet. A phone meeting can fill it. Do not make the front desk, or the store down the road, your meeting.
A Neighbor Asked If You Are Okay
A neighbor asked if you are okay, at the mailbox or in the hall. You do not owe them the story. A meeting tonight can hold it instead.
A Night Shift and a Phone Meeting
You are on shift and cannot leave the building. A meeting can be by phone or online with the video off. Confirm the listing before you count on your break.
A Nurse Asked for a Number
A nurse asked how much you drink or use, and you wanted to lie. You can tell the clinician the truth. A meeting will not replace that answer.
A Page Number You Do Not Have
Someone called a page number and your book does not match, or you have no book. Listen to the passage. A mismatched number is not a failed test.
A Parent from School Is in the Circle
A parent from your child's school is in the meeting. You can listen and not name the connection, or you can leave. Do not count on anonymity to hold.
A Phone Meeting on a Borrowed Phone
Telephone meetings are real A.A. meetings you can dial into. You can listen on a borrowed phone. Get the number from Meeting Guide or a local office.
A Recording in Navajo
The catalog has the Big Book spoken in Navajo on 14 CDs. That set is not a meeting, and it may not be a language you can use. Look locally.
A Service Animal and a Narrow Door
You and a service animal are at a narrow door. If you cannot get in tonight, a phone or online meeting is real, and the video can stay off.
A Short Animation Is Not the Meeting
Young people share in a short animation, a few minutes each and closed captioned. A cartoon is not the meeting. You can go tonight without it.
A Siren, and You Checked
You heard a siren and checked your phone to see if it was them. The leap in your body is the hurt. Call 911 only if the danger is real.
A Sponsee Texted That They Drank
A sponsee texted that they drank. Answer like a person and point them to a meeting. Call 911 if they are in danger. You are not their doctor.
A Stranger Offered You a Ride Home
Someone you do not know offered a ride after the meeting. You can say no. Help afterward is optional. If you feel unsafe, go to a public place or call 911.
A Teacher Wrote About Your Child
A teacher wrote that your child seems off. You can answer without confessing the house. Al-Anon is for you, and Alateen is there if they are a teen.
A Text from the Old Number
A text from the old number just landed, and your thumb wants to answer. Do not answer yet. Get to an NA meeting, or a virtual one, before you reply.
A Training DVD Is Not Your Chair
Staff mentioned a training DVD and it sounded like help. The disc is for corrections professionals, not for putting you in a chair tonight.
A Video Tour Is Not Your Group
DV-07 tours the General Service Office and the Grapevine office, plus the Archives and special workers. Tuesday is local. You can count there without the tour.
A Vision for You, Without a Guarantee
Chapter 11 is titled A Vision for You. It sounds like a forecast. It is not a promise you will be fine by morning. A.A. cannot predict who recovers.
A Voice from High School
You heard a voice from high school in the meeting and wanted to vanish. You can stay, or you can slip out and find a different room tonight.
A Weekend You Cannot Travel To
A Joe and Charlie weekend is listed and you cannot get there. That weekend is not the door. A meeting you can reach tonight, by phone or nearby, is enough.
A Women's Meeting and the Door
A women's meeting is that group's format, written in the listing note. If you are unsure you belong in that room, ask before you share.
A Word in the Reading You Do Not Know
The reading used a word you do not know, and you felt late to your own life. You can ask after, or you can let the word go and still belong.
A.A. and Prescribed Medication
A member who tells you to dump a prescription is not your doctor. A.A. members are not physicians. Talk to the person who prescribed it.
A.A. Comes of Age Can Wait
Someone said you must read A.A. Comes of Age before you share. Bill W. tells the history in that book. You can speak, or stay quiet, without it.
Afraid the Call Is Recording
You are on a phone or video meeting and scared it is being recorded. You can ask the chair, keep the camera off, and log off if you do not trust the room.
Afraid to Mention Your Partner
You are afraid to say your partner's name. People talk about relationships. You can mention one, or skip it, or pass. No national naming rule exists.
Afraid You Will Swear
You want to share and you are afraid you will swear or cry. You can swear. You can also pass. You can still sit if the room asks for cleaner language.
After a Stroke You Can Still Sit
A stroke or brain damage left you unable to speak, and you wonder if the chair is still yours. Listening counts. A meeting is not rehab.
After a Twelve-Hour Shift
You got off a long shift and you are too tired, and a drink sounds easier than the meeting. You can go and only listen, or phone one from home.
Al-Anon Has No Fees or Dues
Another program sounds like another bill you cannot pay. Al-Anon has no fees or dues, so the meeting is not one more invoice on the table.
Al-Anon When They Will Not Admit It
They say nothing is wrong, and you are starting to doubt your own eyes. Al-Anon is for you even if they never admit a drinking problem.
Alateen Is Not a Religious Program
Alateen sounded like church and you almost stayed home. It is not a religious program, it has no fees or dues, and you can sit through the words.
Alateen When You Are the Teenager
You are the young person living with someone else's drinking. Alateen is your meeting, whether or not a parent assigned it and whether or not they are drinking.
An Envelope for the Office
A no-charge envelope for a group contribution is not your bill. You do not have to mail anything tonight. New York does not run your chair.
Annoyed That the Call Helped
You called, it helped, and now you are irritated that it helped. You do not have to be gracious tonight. Thank you can wait until you mean it.
Anonymity When Someone Asks
A coworker, a reporter, or a public photo can rattle you. Tradition Eleven is anonymity at press, radio, and films. You may still tell your own family.
Any Rank and a Desire to Stop
Rank makes you feel too visible, or too junior to belong. The armed services pamphlet is for any rank and any age. A desire to stop is enough.
As Bill Sees It on a Long Night
A whole chapter is too much tonight. As Bill Sees It is short pieces from Bill's writings, with a topical index. You can also just go to a meeting.