I did not know what to expect, and was actually quite nervous when I left to go to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I decided to bring a friend with me to alleviate some of the anxiety. Neither one of us have had a drinking problem, but figured the meeting would be informative and interesting. I don't think either of us was prepared to hear the struggles of other people and how their addiction drastically changed their lives. I personally have a friend that is an alcoholic and wanted to let her know that the meeting wasn't as bad as she may think. Some of the people there explained how secretive they were with their drinking habits, which made me question the things my friend does.
There were several people at this meeting. There was an ethnic mix of people, but most of them were males over the age of thirty (seemingly).
An Alcoholics Anonymous Regional Service Center in...
A Kranz (wreath) of Kölsch beer.
AA meeting signOne man's story stuck out in my memory. When he told his story I was compelled to pay attention and felt empathetic for him. I was so interested in what he had to say I forgot I was there for a school assignment. I wanted to be there to listen to this man. I felt a need to understand and help him, although I couldn't grasp his mentality behind doing the things he had done. I'm sure he struggled with the same question ten times more than I did. He seemed to be around forty and at times also used cocaine. When the alcohol wasn't a good enough high, he turned to cocaine to which put him in even more danger. He spoke of times when he would bring alcohol to work. None of his co-worker's would know since he would bring it in after hours and keep...