Terrible Precedent

"I have learned to be less negative and more positive.  I used to take a negative view of almost everything.  Most people, in my estimation, were bluffing.  There seemed to be very little good in the world, but lots of hypocrisy and sham.  People could not be trusted."

"If we give out hate, we will become hateful.  If we are resentful, we will be resented.  If we do not like people, we will not be liked by people.  Revengefulness is a power poison in our systems.  If you would help even those you dislike, you have to see that there is nothing in you to block the way, to keep God's grace from using you.  Your own pride and selfishness are the greatest blocks."

We're still under a mask mandate for indoor gatherings in SoCal.  The good news is that our CoVid case rates are remarkably low; the bad news is that you should wear a mask inside - if following rules is important to you - and this simple act has taken on overt political tones.  I don't particularly like wearing a mask but I wear one - it's a thoughtful and solicitous act that shows concern for the people around me and I don't find putting one on for an hour an outrageous violation of my right to do whatever the fuck I want whenever I fucking want to do it.   I'm distressed that people who go to meetings where you don't wear masks tend to be conservative and people that follow the mandate tend to be liberal, more or less.  I almost feel that we're splitting into two groups and this is terrible for A.A. - so much of our strength comes from the fact that we are "people who wouldn't ordinarily mix."  Being around people who think differently than me has been very helpful over the years.  There have been plenty of people that I understood held very different political, social, and religious views but we always managed to keep this outside issue crap out of The Rooms.  Unfortunately, the mask is a very visible marker of how you feel about things, like wearing a T-shirt with the name of your favorite politician on it.

I had a guy who I really like ask me to help him go through The Steps.  Sure, love to, thanks for asking, working with newcomers is important to my sobriety.  In the discussion about how and when to do this I asked if he had been vaccinated.  I'm not a kid and I've got my family to consider.  "No, I'm sort of a conspiracy guy," he said.  Well, that was pretty much that.  If he's against vaccinations that's none of my business but I'm not going to sit down, inside, in close contact with someone who could easily test positive for the virus.  I ponder sometimes who is going to the anti-mask meetings and think: "Pffftt, not really the kind of people I like anyway."

Terrible.  Terrible to be in this position.