Business Meeting Blues

 One of my major beefs with my meeting has been the constant presence of a cadre of homeless people.  I seem to be a lot more annoyed at these folks than most of the regular attendees, all Super-Nice California types, so this is my issue to deal with.  Still, having several individuals wander in and out of the meeting, slurping multiple cups of coffee half full of creamer and sugar, scarfing cookies, taking mini-baths in the restrooms, mumbling to themselves and waving their hands about, is so distracting to me that sometimes I have trouble paying attention to the . . . you know . . . meeting going on.

Today the group has its business meeting, a typical A.A. affair where people talk endlessly about unimportant matters before voting to think about it some more and revisit the issue at the next business meeting.  Wash, spin, dry, repeat.  I had decided, in my self-righteous, self-important, pedantic way to bring up beef with the homeless today.  Because they steadfastly refuse to change their behavior the only solutions I could see would be to stop serving food and drink for a month or two or to banish a couple from the meeting.  The latter choice is so drastic that we have to be careful that we don't deprive someone a chance to get sober, no matter how small.  Nonetheless and despite the attitude of all most all of the Super Nice People I believe this can and should be done on rare occasions.  The group is more important than the individual for without the group most of us are going to be in the shit.  Frankly, some of these people have been coming to the meeting for 10 years and until and unless they get their various mental illnesses addressed they've no chance of getting sober.  We're Alcoholics Anonymous, not CAL Social Services.

I say the Serenity Prayer in my Quiet Time each day or my version of it: If I'm supposed to do something help me do it; if I'm not supposed to do something help me to wait patiently; and show which is which.  I started wondering what my motives were because I didn't see the group making any changes.  I was probably going to make some members angry or irritated, at least, and I was going to make myself irritated for sure.  So I didn't go.  I bet they did fine without me.

If you want a resentment go to a business meeting.