![]() ![]() All are fodder for humor, because it’s the laughter of survivors. Even those of us who haven’t personally endured the ‘blue light experience’ of being stopped for DUI can identify with that sinking, fearful feeling ruined lives and careers, estranged children, engaging in thoughtless cruelty to others. Only those who have themselves been the subject of horrible, embarrassing public humiliation can laugh when someone describes his own. “There’s an energy in the rooms because of that, and lots of laughter, the laughter of survivors. If, as it’s been said, addiction is a disease of isolation, the meetings offer an end to that isolation a place to crawl out of the hole of despair and loneliness and spend time with fellow sufferers, people who ‘understand’ precisely because they’ve been in the same exact condition. “And the meetings are an essential part of AA recovery. That, in turn, means newcomers and people without the secret word and known to the host can’t get in. Those attacks, in turn, have caused meetings to require still more passwords and a host deciding who to let join. ![]() Even with password security, the Zoom bombers sneak in to disrupt meetings with obscene comments, dirty pictures, pictures of whiskey bottles (I mention the latter not because it has some triggering effect, merely to show that the attacks are targeted), and so forth. “AA and other recovery meetings have shifted to Zoom, but that’s not a long-term solution. “The effect of this shutdown on the recovery community has been awful,” he said. His anonymity is respected because of his chosen recovery process, but his words make it clear: He would have liked to celebrate that anniversary with face-to-face laughter among friends who share his experience. On May 9, the man celebrated the 26th anniversary of his sobriety. ![]()
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