A LIGHT-HEARTED LOOK AT AA

One of the things that often amazes a newcomer to the halls of Alcoholics Anonymous is the amount of laughter that is present. It is definitely true...we are not a glum lot.

We know we are fighting a deadly disease...one that will kill us if we are not diligent. However, laughter is our saving grace. It allows us to laugh at ourselves, to face our fears and our misdeeds and to put our lives and our past into perspective. A type of “gallows humor” I guess.

Anyway, I thought that you might enjoy some of the funny quips and jokes that abound in AA. Here’s a sampling:

I would rather go through life sober, believing I am an alcoholic, than go through life drunk…trying to convince myself that I am not.”

“The bluebird of happiness is not another swallow.”

Overheard at a funeral service: “Poor boy, he tried everything to stop drinking but he never could.” “Did he try AA?” “Oh, my, no,
…he never got that bad !”

“The 12 Steps are like 12 wrenches…they will fit any nut who walks through the door.”

“If you’re wrapped up in self you make a very small package.’”

The discussion topic was “half measures avail us nothing” and one member was listing all the reservations he had about the AA program and sobriety. An old-timer piped up and said, “with that many reservations you are bound to soon take a flight.”

“The slogans are the banisters to the 12 Steps.”

“The 12 Steps keep us from suicide. The 12 Traditions keep us from homicide !”

A warning to newcomers in AA: “If you’re looking for a relation-ship in AA odds are good you’ll find one. But beware…it often follows that the goods will be odd.”

“An alcoholic is an individual who takes the most simple program and works on it until he has eventually reduced it to its most complicated form.”

And one of my favorites: “We didn’t get to AA by singing too loud in church.”