Tonight I went to a NA meeting on the island. It was completely unplanned. I was in the middle of lifting when a friend texted me that there would be a speaker there I might want to hear. Attending the meeting definitely reinforced the notion that AA / NA is not for me.
The first 20 minutes or better was just reading dogma with well-practiced, reflexive responses. “Hello, my name is Frank and I’m an addict.” Entire group, “HELLO, FRANK.” Reflexive interjections of “so bad” or “every time” were also performed by the group.
At the end, I asked my friend why he attends at all. He said that during meetings, people vomit forth atrocities that they would never discuss anywhere else, and it ends up being a shit show that puts things into perspective for him. I said, “like ogrish!” I explained that sometimes, when I’m having a really bad day, and I am trying not to drink, I’ll visit the ogrish forums and watch a beheading. Things suddenly don’t seem so bad. He laughed and said, “yeah, like that.” Maybe I’ll attend a few more.
