Meeting

I passed fourteen years of sobriety last month without a single person commenting on the milestone. These days- nobody expects me to drink, nobody worries if I’ll make it home, they depend on me. Everyone forgot I was an alcoholic… and it made me very happy.

Last weekend however, it turned out some people did remember.

I was presented the card below at the recovery meeting I started over two years ago at the methadone clinic. On the inside of the card they mentioned something even more important to my recovery than length of sobriety, they thanked me for all the meetings… and it made me very happy.

From my time as an alcoholic college student, soldier, and adult bachelor, I can speak from experience that a strip club is not conducive to sobriety. Working as an advocate and volunteer, I now know that many performers also suffer from substance abuse issues.

Maybe there are exceptions, but for the most part I see little good come out of these joints. So when I saw this story pop up on my news feed my first thoughts were extremely negative, a racy recovery program sounded ill conceived. My initial reaction was unfounded, it turns out that Screamin' Meemee's is now an ex-strip club that is being renovated to serve as a meeting place for recovering alcoholics. The building was turned over to its higher purpose as part of a plea bargain by the owner who was busted for running a prostitution ring as a sideline to the exotic dancing.

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No girls allowed. The thought crosses my mind most every time the fairer sex turns on the water works in our weekend recovery meeting. It has to be sincere though, sympathy tears (crying and lying) are ignored and as far as men go… buck up boy! It happened this last weekend, a young lady with a baby attending her first meeting quietly sobbing in the corner. Of course her pain may be no more severe than that of the smug but oh so insecure twenty something male beside her, she just has a much more effective way of communicating it. Ouch. Felt like a kick in the soft part of my heart, but I persevered because it was a good cry, a cry of relief, of finally being among a group that understands.

Regardless if they involve steps, chips, or topics there is generally one common balm all recovery meetings offer the addict and alcoholic, the opportunity to relate and be understood. After ages of trying to describe the blue of your disease to a colorblind crowd this can be truly a welcome feeling.

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