Let me tell ya a little story about rednecks in AA...

I was visiting my sister in Georgia, a few miles outside Monroe.  So far in the country that if you ask someone to use their cell phone, they think you mean a phone moved from cell to cell inside the jail, during phone call hours. LOL

I called the intergroup in Savanannah, GA and Atlantia, GA, trying to find a meeting close by my sisters.  After about an hour, a man called me and said, he was going to pick me up for the meeting because it was too hard to explain where it is at.  About 7:15 a man comes rolling up on a old Ford farm tractor with a hay wagon attached to it.  He tells me he is a "friend of Bill W" and came to get me to go to a meeting.  There was no introduction by name between he and I.  "Jump on dat der wagon, and we'll be right on time to drink some coffee before every one shows up", he says.  He is wearing overalls, with a straw hat, worn out cowboy boots, and has a big fat chew of tobacco in his mouth.

I jumped on the wagon, and away we went.  About 20 minutes later, having went down miles of bumpy dirt road, we came up to this little white country church. Not anything else in eyes sight.  Just a church in the middle of nowhere.  It was beaten, weathered, and didn't look like it was being used for a church at all.  In fact it looked like it was abandoned.  As he pulled the tractor around to the side of the church, a black man came out of the church, walked over and introduced himself as Jerald M., "welcome to our AA club" he said.  He was without a doubt someone who had a spiritual experience and was truly happy, joyous and free.  "Where'd ya pick this guy up?"  "Those AA people on the telephone called me and asked if I'd give him a ride to our meeting, so I went and got him.  He is from a city and got lost here, so I figure he might keep us sober for another day.  Besides he looks like he could use some AA and some food, ain't no better place to get both than right here".  

Jerald took me into the church like I was a prize catch, introduced me to another man, and walked off.  A few moments later returned to me with a cup of coffee and a piece of home made pie.  Within minutes there were about 25 people at this little church, in the middle of no where.  From teenagers, to elders, white, black and shades between, men and women.  They were the obviously from a place in life that lacked any indication of financial wealth.

Most were talking about how their crop didn't come up this year, or how their farm was being forclosed on, who had died in the past week or two, who had lost their jobs...  The meeting was finally started, chaired by Jerald, the black man who met me at the tractor and wagon.  He started the meeting off with a warm prayer between him and his HP, and then we all joined in the Serenity Prayer.  After the prayer, he made an announcement. "We will have some food here for everyone to eat after the meeting, its in the kitchen. Thanks to everyone who brought a little something to share tonight and thanks for those who will help us eat it."  He continued, "we arn't here to talk about growing corn, or about what is happening to Billy Bob and his wife, whose chickens are producing good eggs or not, or about how damn broke we are.  We are here to talk about alcoholism and how we stay sober, one day at a time.  We have a man here visiting us from some god forsaken place in North Carolina, so let's make sure we introduce ourselves to him after the meeting so he has a chance to stay sober tonight, like the rest of us idiots'."  Everyone laughed, and the meeting began.  

The meeting centered around the Third Tradition. "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking".

I was driven to my sisters house about an hour after the meeting ended, by a teenager in a 1971 beater pickup truck.  He was so proud of his truck, you would have thought he was talking about a Escalade, when he talked about it.

Without a doubt, they were all financially broke, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.  But they were no where near poor.  They had a wealth of contentment, they were rich in their sobriety, and they were weathy with the fellowship of AA.