Tradition 10

"A.A. has no opinion on outside issues, hence the A.A. name should never be drawn into public controversy."

We were chatting away at our small 12&12 meeting last week about the opening few paragraphs of Step 12.  There was a guy there for the first time at our meeting who intimated that he had some sobriety under his belt.  Normally dressed, calm in demeanor, no red flags flying.  He did screw around with his cell phone during the introductory readings.  This pisses me off - it's disrespectful: "Sorry, I have to check my Facebook feed right now."  Then, when we started to read, he questioned whether there was a procedure in place to reread Step One if a newcomer was present.  No, we told him - it's too disruptive to keep starting over each time a new person shows up.

After a couple of good shares he introduced himself and started to speak.  He has lived overseas for a long time, recently returning to the U.S., and took his allotted time to go on a long rant about the U.S. health care system.  We sat there uncomfortably for a little while until one of our male attendees said, quite quietly: "Outside issue."  The dude pauses, stands up, and absolutely slams the hardcover book on the table and storms out of the room, showering us with shouts and curses.  The book bounces off the table and onto the floor.

I'll tell you that sometimes things happen so fast that you don't move a muscle.  I idly wonder  how I would react in a dramatic, unexpected event.  I imagine myself coolly doing the right thing.  Pfffftttt.  I didn't move an inch.

The guy stood outside and yelled for a few seconds before taking off.  The group sat in stunned silence before getting into an interesting discussion about how we should have handled the situation.  Many of us thought that our brother did the right thing interrupting someone who was clearly breaking a Tradition - trampling all over it - but I was surprised to hear that some of the members thought that we should have let him finish his thoughts, that he was eventually going to get to the point of his discomfort, that he obviously needed a meeting.  Right after he left one of the women got up and went to find him.  I thought this was a terrible idea.  "Be careful," SuperK said.

I followed up with a few people the next day and was again surprised to hear that the opinions went both ways.  This confirms my solid belief that I don't know what the hell is going on most of the time.  This is why I always check with lots of people.  Just because I think it doesn't mean that it's true.

I hope he isn't there tomorrow.  I don't need to feel threatened at a meeting.  Dude scared me so I can only imagine how some of the women felt.