You Told My Story. . .

HOW OFTEN we have heard this response in an AA meeting to the "lead" of the evening! Usually it means, "I had a similar drinking pattern. The same sort of things happened to me. I suffered in the same way--illness, jitters, remorse, change of personality, crazy thinking--you name it." How often, too, do we hear the speaker tell how difficult he found it, in the beginning, to identify with other alcoholics. The reasons are as varied as the individuals. Some said at first, "I don't belong here--this fellow was on skid row and spent half his time in jail." Or, "He doesn't know what it's all about. He was never in jail, he always had a job, his wife didn't leave him." Or, "He was out of control before he was twenty--I've been a social drinker for years." Or, "These people are out of my class. They're all educated and have money." Or, "Not one of these fellows ever went to college. Maybe I'm not an alcoholic after all. Maybe my kind don't become alcoholics."