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Alcohol Anonymous Experience

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ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS MEETING EXPERIENCE
Locating an AA meeting was very easy. I had researched online various times, locations, and types of meetings in Essex County. I was surprised by how many meeting locations were in my neighborhood. Through this source I was able to find an AA meeting that was within a reasonable distance as I did not want to attend one the was close to my house because I did not want to meet someone I know at the meeting. Online resource for finding a location was easy and the name and address including directions to the location was at some web site assessed. The meeting I attended was at a local church 10 miles away in West Orange New Jersey. There were 19 people excluding myself, 10 women and 9 men. The one hour meeting started at 8pm and was very interesting and informative. I attended the meeting alone on a Sunday night.
I was quite apprehensive about going to a meeting, more so than I expected to be and I was nervous about being invasive to the privacy of AA members. I was expecting to see more men than women because I was thinking that men drink alcoholic beverages more than women. My imagination, with the help of television and movies, painted a picture in my mind of what an AA meeting would be like. It portrayed a room filled with people that obviously looked like addicts; unkempt appearances, borderline offensive hygiene, and at least one person emitting a radiance of booze while swaying back and forth in his chair. I also expected that being a student there for observation, would be met with cold reception from members. I was ready to be bored as I was certain that the member were just going to sit and be told what to say and do in order not to drink and how to overcome the huge to drink alcohol.
When I got there everyone was really friendly and I explained that I was just there to observe and that I was a nursing student.

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