Explanations and Discussions
Once there were enough people in the room, Dan decided it was time to start. He let everyone take a seat, but stayed standing himself after getting some more coffee, and gave a crooked little smile. "My name is Dan. I'm an alcoholic, and I've been sober for just over thirteen years now. I've been going to AA meetings all that time, and I know the Twelve Steps off by heart. I even go to those meetings where we endlessly read through the big book. You know, ten pages at a time, discuss what we've read, and when we reach the end, we just start over at the first page again. The Steps are over on that wall, by the way, and my copy of the big book showed up soon after I did. It's here on the table beside me."
It felt strange to do this without a podium in front of him to grip onto, he realized. He was in danger of pacing if he didn't do something quick, though, so he grabbed a chair and sat down on it even as he continued talking. "I normally hover at the back near the coffee, I'm not used to being the guy at the front," he explained as he sat down.
"Some people don't think it works. Some people think it's a cult or something to do with the church. I think that it does work, I know it's not a cult and personally, even if it is something to do with the church, I don't care. I don't believe in God, and the AA still lets me in," he said with a little shrug. "That said, I'm not suggesting that we absolutely must follow the 12 steps and read that book. They help me, and if anyone wants to work through them or read the book, I'm more than happy to help with that. But they're not a requirement. Nobody needs to do anything that they aren't comfortable with; this isn't Fight Club. You don't have to share if you don't want to, and you don't have to collect chips - which is good because I don't have any - unless you want to, in which case I guess I get to go poke around the station and find things to make chips from. You don't have to do anything except help. That's it, that's the main thing. If anyone needs help with managing their drinking, they can get it. I know I still need help after thirteen years. That's why I wrote the flyers."
He drank a mouthful of coffee after all that and sat forward. "I'll share tonight, because it only seems fair. I asked everyone to come, after all. But if anyone has questions, or suggestions, fire away. I need another donut before that, anyway."