600 guides in moments in the room
Big Book Audio When You Cannot Read
The print will not stay still tonight. The Big Book page has audio and ASL chapter recordings. A meeting where someone else reads still counts.
Bill Talks Traditions for an Hour
Someone assigned a 60-minute recording of Bill on the Traditions, like homework. You can go to a meeting instead. You do not have to hear that hour tonight.
Bill's Story Is Not Your Script
Chapter 1 is titled Bill's Story, and you feel you must sound like the founder before you share. You do not. A desire to stop is enough. You can listen tonight.
Books at Cost, and the Seat Is Free
A group is selling a book and you think the meeting itself costs money. Books are at cost. The seat is not for sale. You can sit down with an empty pocket.
Bottles in the Laundry Hamper
You found bottles in the laundry and your stomach dropped. Go to Al-Anon without them. They do not have to admit anything before you sit down and listen.
Bridging the Gap Is Not Your Ride
Bridging the Gap is a pamphlet for members who carry the message into treatment. If you are the patient, it is not your discharge plan or a guaranteed contact.
Bringing Family to an Open Meeting
Open A.A. meetings allow observers. A closed meeting is the wrong room if your family member is only watching. Their own help is Al-Anon, not your story.
Came to Believe Is Not One Answer
Came to believe sounds like one God story. The book Came to Believe is many members writing what a spiritual awakening means to them. You can go tonight.
Carrying the Message Without Chasing Them
You keep texting into the night and driving past their place. Carrying the message is practice, not a chase, and that work is never paid.
Cleveland in 1950 and the Door
Someone used Cleveland 1950 like a password. That convention adopted the Traditions. You can walk in with a desire to stop drinking.
Clubs and Alano Houses
The clubhouse is not A.A. headquarters. Some groups rent a room there. Clubs should stay separate and not use the A.A. name. Alano is a local nickname.
Conference Talks From 1951 Can Wait
Someone said you are behind if you have not read Bill W.'s conference talks from 1951 to 1970. That book can wait. You can go to a meeting tonight.
Conference-Approved Is Not a Ban
Someone said a tape or pamphlet is illegal because it is not Conference-approved. The label is what the Conference approved GSO to publish.
Cooperating Is Not the Doctor in Charge
P-34 is Bill on cooperating with doctors and social workers. Cooperating does not put the doctor in charge of the meeting or your prescription.
Cooperation Questions You Can Leave
A counselor asked how A.A. cooperates, and you went blank. P-29 answers specific queries on the Traditions. You can say you do not know and still go.
Counting Breaths, Not Days
Someone asked how long you have, and the honest count is breaths. You can pass. You can say you are here. There is no dues-based rank in the room.
Counting Floors in the Elevator
You just left a meeting and the elevator is counting floors. Your heart is still loud. You do not have to be calm to have attended. Text someone that you went.
Court Is in the Morning
Court is in the morning. You are sober tonight and you cannot sleep. You can go to a meeting and lay out clothes. A meeting will not predict the judge.
Daily Reflections While You Wait
You are on a bench, and the Daily Reflections line in the app lands wrong. That quote is not a meeting and not a withdrawal plan. The app is free.
Daily Reflections, a Page a Day
Someone told you to read today's page, and you do not own Daily Reflections. It has one reading for each day of the year. You can attend without the book.
Dinner Started and They Are Already Loud
Dinner started and they are already loud. You can leave the table and take a walk. Al-Anon can happen after, even from the car.
Do Not Put the Group on a Flyer
Someone wants a flyer or a post using the group. You can say no. The line is attraction rather than promotion, with anonymity at press, radio, and films.
Dr. Bob and the Book Beside You
Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers is on the nightstand, or someone said you must finish the biography before you speak. A meeting tonight matters more.
Drinks at the Funeral Lunch
The funeral lunch has drinks and you are raw. You can skip the pour and leave. Grief and a desire to stop drinking can share the same day.
Eight Minutes on Break
You have eight minutes on a work break. A full meeting may not fit. Look up the next one, and do not drink in the parking lot. Withdrawal needs 911.
Fifteen Answers You Can Skip
You were told there are 15 points you must know before a meeting. The pamphlet has brief answers. You can go tonight without finishing it.
Fifteen Stories, and You Are Not Named
You are a Hispanic woman and the 2021 pamphlet has 15 stories that are not yours. You can listen at a meeting tonight without matching one.
Fifty-Six Retired Stories Can Wait
Someone said the real stories were removed and you are too late. You can sit tonight without that anthology. The current book is still the basic text.
Finding a Meeting After Midnight
The church is locked and it is after midnight. Online and phone A.A. meetings exist when groups hold them. Search now, confirm the listing, and get safe first.
Five Books, and You Are Broke
You were told to buy five A.A. books and you cannot pay. You can listen on aa.org. Books at a meeting are at cost, and the seat itself is free.
Four Young Videos Can Wait
You are young, and someone said to watch four videos before a meeting. Those videos can wait. You can go tonight without pressing play.
Freedom From Alcohol Is the Tie
You are afraid the room wants your love life as the topic. A pamphlet says the tie is freedom from alcohol. You do not have to match a word to sit down.
Friday Night and You Keep Shabbat
Friday night, you keep Shabbat, and this listing fights your practice. Welcome regardless of religion. A Saturday, Sunday, or phone meeting is allowed.
Gender Is Already in the Welcome
The word on the door made your stomach drop. The welcome already includes gender. Skip the hall argument and pick an open meeting if that label makes you sick.
Going to a Meeting After You Drank
You drank today and you think the meeting will turn you away. The membership line is a desire to stop. If you might seize, call 911.
Guidelines Were Not a Creed
Someone called the Traditions a creed you must recite. Bill offered them as suggestions, not a creed. You can sit down without saying them.
Home for the Weekend, Bottle Out
You came home for the weekend and the bottle is already out. You can take a walk to the car and join an Al-Anon meeting from there.
Homebound and a Phone Meeting
You cannot leave the house and you still need a meeting. Phone meetings and online meetings with video off exist. A visit to your door is not promised.
House-Sitting and the Bar Is Full
You are house-sitting and their bar is stocked. Leave that room. A meeting, a walk, or a phone meeting can hold the night. Do not just taste it.
How Long AA Meetings Last
You need a time for a sitter or a boss. A.A. has no national meeting length. The listing shows a start time. Staying after is optional.
How to Ask Someone to Sponsor You
You can ask someone after a meeting whose share helped. There is no assignment desk. You can attend tonight and listen with no sponsor yet.
If the Meeting Is Outdoors Tonight
The pin dropped you outside. Some groups meet outdoors. Confirm the listing before you stand in a field. Weather is not a national rule.
If You Use Other Drugs and Want A.A.
If alcohol is part of why you hurt, a desire to stop drinking is the membership test. Other drug use does not ban you. NA is a separate room.
Into Action Before You Feel Ready
Chapter 6 is titled Into Action. You do not have to start making amends tonight. You can go to a meeting and leave that chapter closed.
Is This Your First?
A regular asked if this is your first meeting. You can say yes, no, or that you are just listening. You do not owe your story at the coffee pot.
It Is Three in the Morning Where You Are
It is 3 a.m. where you are. Some groups meet at late hours. Your town may not. Confirm a phone or online listing, and you can listen in the dark.
It Landed Like an Order
A suggestion from a sponsor or an old-timer felt like an order. You can say no. Membership is a desire to stop drinking. If it is bullying, find another room.
Just One, and the Booklet
You are bargaining for just one drink before you leave the kitchen. Living Sober is about staying away from the first drink. A booklet cannot detox you.
Keep Coming Back Stung
Someone said keep coming back and it landed like a slap. You can hear it as clumsy kindness. You do not have to thank them or stay in that meeting.
La Viña When the Room Is in English
The room was in English, or you cannot get to one, and someone said La Viña. It is a magazine, not a meeting finder. A meeting you can reach still matters.
Large Print on a Long Night
The type swims and you cannot read the page. Large-print editions exist for five A.A. books. You can listen on aa.org, or let the group read the passage aloud.
Large Type How It Works, You Can Pass
A large-type excerpt from Chapter 5 landed in your hands because they wanted you to read it aloud. You can pass. Your name is not required.
Later History Is Not a Gate
Someone said NA came from A.A., so you must start there. That history is not a gate. NA's welcome is a desire for freedom from active addiction.
Living Sober When the Bar Is Open
The bar is open at a party, a wedding, or a work event tonight. Living Sober takes up nights like this. You can leave for a meeting before you stay.
Meetings Inside a Treatment Center
The meeting on the center's schedule can still be peer support. The building is not A.A., and the meeting is not your clinical session.
Mental Health in the Room
You walked in with a mental health problem and braced for a verdict. The pamphlet has stories. A meeting is not treatment, and it is not your doctor.
Methadone and a Comment from the Chair
Someone in the meeting said methadone means you are not sober. Do not stop, share, or extra-dose. Call the clinic. You can still sit.
Money Did Not Keep You Out
You have a job and a house, so you think you do not qualify. Membership ought never depend on money. A desire to stop drinking still lets you in.
More About Alcoholism, the Reading
Many groups read a piece of Chapter 3, More About Alcoholism. You can let it go past you. That reading is not How It Works, and you do not have to follow along.
NA and A.A. on the Same Day
Alcohol and other drugs are both in the story, or someone frowned when you mentioned the other room. You can go to NA and A.A. Here is how the hours differ.