AA Meeting

I took Lukas and Natalie to their first AA meeting this afternoon. Actually it was my first meeting too…. Let me back up a little. Cindy and I always schedule our dental appointments on the same day, an hour apart, and take turns watching the kids. After my appointment I took the kids to a local park, which has a nice tot lot. As we arrived I noticed that there was a very large number of adults hanging out at the picnic tables located right next to the play area. Hmmmm? They were kind of a motley crew. A large percentage of them were smoking. There was a very high tattoo-to-arm ratio. And they didn’t have children with them. Why were they hanging out at the tot lot? Then I hear, “My name is Richard and I am an alcoholic”. “My name is Pam and I am an alcoholic.” An AA meeting? But why would they have their meeting in a park? The leader set some ground rules for the meeting, including a suggestion that the members who smoke hang out together so the non smokers could have some fresh air. Fresh air! That’s it! With more and more facilities being smoke-free these days, the AA group has to hold their meetings outside for their members who smoke. So did the three of us get anything out of our first meeting? Nooooo. Lukas enjoyed the slides, Natalie giggled and giggled on the swing, and I enjoyed being a dad.