The Challenge to Ego in Tradition Five

OVER COFFEE at an all-night cafeteria some years ago, disagreements flared among four or five tables of AAs. There was dissension about the bookkeeping of the clubhouse treasurer, about dues and rules for membership, about the brand of coffee, and about the right of the program secretary to schedule a nonalcoholic speaker. I recall feeling vehement about several of these matters, and I expect I got loud, too.