I second that. I am not comfortable responding to a post when I am not sure if it is really a "newcomer" and seriously seeking help or someone who has too much time on their hands is trolling this site. Some of the postings in the last couple of days have been too bizarre and offensive for me to even respond to.
Hey, if some of those recent comment from the newer participants are not legit and it's just somebody making stuff up to try to "shock" people, boy did THEY pick the wrong crowd.
If it's trolling, it isn't very good trolling.
It's just stuff that many of us have heard in someone's 5th step. I mean, it's not like we're a bunch of monks and nuns who are going to get all freaked out by these comments.
Some of us in AA are even rumored to have had a very serious drinking problem in the past : )
Seriously, I see no harm in assuming the posts are on the level, and replying accordingly, with info about AA. What's the harm?
That is awesome Brother. We lost one a few months back with 50 years. He is missed...But still very much a part of AA here. I was lucky enough to get to know him...And learn from him. Happy Birthday Bob....And to many more.
I am on several different sites and have never read postings like these and I really don't want to hear about someones' explicit sexual acts, excrement and mastery of four letter words. This board may tolerate and allow more freedom of expression. I really don't know.
I just feel like they're obviously fake. And also offensive.
And I'm not comfortable posting here as long as there are trolls that are obviously trying to belittle alcoholism and/or addiction.
Someone will always try to belittle and irritate us. Don't let them make you take your bat & ball and go home.
People may come to seek help here that have ACTUAL problems, not obviously made up ones. Hopefully no newcomers read the posts. If I had read them before I was in program I would have never set foot in the door.
hey fellas, just wanted to say that i dont have much in this wolrd, was looking for some peace, thought you guys could guide me. im on the streets right now, and man dont we all have a story or two. i think its all my days that have made me say what i am thinking, so i what im trying to say was i didnt mean to offend anyone. i guess since i have lived through it it is not an unnormal thing for me to talk about. like i said, i dont have anything really, how many of you slept on the street last night. then you try and get help, most folks arent open to helpin the homeless guy. ill be dammed if this place hasnt turned me from gettin help. if a bunch like you wont help me who will. i am just not going to make it through it this time. i mean how can some place turn away a human being. ahh well i new it would never end pretty for me. man, i am sorry for you trubles and me telling about my life like i did. dont think i will be seein you folks around. man, sorry again, i just cant ever get it right.
Amen, Namaste...
I know exactly who some of "newbies" are....actually it is one person and the reason I got another ID "grateful1".....the "monitoring" posting above said it all. The site administrator and at least one moderator of this board knows all about more of the reason. I just deleted my new ID and am deleting my bty account shortly. I just kept it open in case anyone tried to PM me and I didn't want people to worry about me as I have people who just disappeared from this board. It is a shame because I was needlessly harrassed by a member on here who was banned from this board not once but several times using multiple ID names. It is a real shame because I have always loved being a part of this board since early sobriety.
I wish those on this board who are seriously here for the same reason I was--to get help and support for my alcoholism as well as to reach the point where I wanted to and was able to help others battling this disease--well, I wish you the best of luck.
hey fellas, just wanted to say that i dont have much in this wolrd, was looking for some peace, thought you guys could guide me. im on the streets right now, and man dont we all have a story or two. i think its all my days that have made me say what i am thinking, so i what im trying to say was i didnt mean to offend anyone. i guess since i have lived through it it is not an unnormal thing for me to talk about. like i said, i dont have anything really, how many of you slept on the street last night. then you try and get help, most folks arent open to helpin the homeless guy. ill be dammed if this place hasnt turned me from gettin help. if a bunch like you wont help me who will. i am just not going to make it through it this time. i mean how can some place turn away a human being. ahh well i new it would never end pretty for me. man, i am sorry for you trubles and me telling about my life like i did. dont think i will be seein you folks around. man, sorry again, i just cant ever get it right.
I don't think anybody mentioned your name....You're doing that yourself.
Stepchild. Thank you for posting good info here. been reading alot of your stuff you have been through a lot why you gotta dog someone for being honest tho
I'm not dogging anybody. And I have been through a lot. Just trying to help people that want it. I don't play games here...This is life and death for some people. I had to get honest myself when I started......I didn't have to offend people when I did it. I'm not in this for the shock value...You know what I mean?
Many years ago I got a DUI; court said I had to do 25 AA meetings as one part of the process. I did and actually ended up sticking around for a lot more than ordered to. I met some fine people; one in particular was a newbie like myself...this guy was a wreck and well, a huge creepy asshole. Point is that as he dried out he became a much more agreeable person. 6 months later he was a totally different person; not at all like he was in the beginning. I'd suggest that if one doesn't like what someone posts, ignore it....you never know who really needs the help til you get to know them
If someone really wants recovery, they will find it. AA meetings will welcome anyone pretty much. Relax guys. I do believe we help each other tremendously, but none of us have the power to stop someone from recovery. I am away right now in Scandinavia on my honeymoon. Haven't had time to monitor as much. Will be back in a week. Too much good goes on here to be bothered by trollish posts. I see Dean is on the job too.
PS: Dean, St. Petersburg Russia differs from Florida lol. I was really getting annoyed with the amount of vodka being pushed on me. I even had a drinking dream/nightmare which is rare for me. Meetings on this boat are a bust. I am the only one showing up. Glad for the opportunity to check in here. I needed it.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
Having been around both AA and online communities for a while - actually I started both around the same time - trolls are pretty obvious to me whether they are pixelated or in the flesh. The best rule for trolls is the no feeding rule, because that's what they're after.
I was at a meeting some years ago when a shaky newbie/retread showed up, dropped off by a "friend". After the meeting, the "friend" came back and proceeded to ream out the newbie and AA, calling him a "pussy" and he was weak willed to have to go to AA - basically trashing AA and his friend all at the same time while screaming at the top of his lungs. I presume he thought he was a motivational speaker of great presence. Fortunately he never came back, unfortunately his alcoholic friend never did either - at least not to that meeting.
If we stick to AA principles and don't get drawn into outside issues - and what some loudmouth asshole thinks of AA is really an outside issue - these things tend to work themselves out. Usually quickly more so than slowly.
Geez, you'd think people would have better things to do. I had no idea what a troll was until this post and I Googled it. I haven't spent a lot of time in forums.
... The best rule for trolls is the no feeding rule, because that's what they're after. ...
Great advice.
Trolling is what evil do. Fear is what evil is based on. Fear can only feed off fear (tension) - the opposite to serenity.
Trolls hope to create tension in others so they can feed their false empowerment - their fearful self. They fear serenity because it requires self-responsibility.
Serenity requires us to let go of controlling others so we can control our self.
Best to ignore any tension that arises from any post.
-- Edited by Part VII on Monday 4th of August 2014 04:43:02 PM
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"... unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of recovery." Dr. Silkworth. (Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Ed. p.xxix)
Mark when you are sitting alone in your own AA meeting...get real quiet and then ask with a whisper..."You still with me"? then go back to listening. For me I learned when I listen HP speaks. Enjoy the journey. Maybe those Ruskies really don't see you as alcoholic...the ones I knew graduated to glycol alcohol and a whole new level of mind, body, spirit and emotional dysfunctions. I was told more that once "Our allotment is no enough". Enjoy and the dreams aint real...be grateful. Had one of my own less than a week ago...not fun and then also not real. (((hugs)))
Thanks guys! I don't know if what AA is like in these countries. Russia is like 30 years behind the rest of Europe and Putin is taking them backwards in some ways....so, I'm thinking AA is not there much even though it's probably most needed. I have not had time in the 5 to 7 hour stops to figure out where an actual AA meeting would be in the countries we have visited and if they would be in English even. The trip started in London (I know there is AA there), then took off to Oslo Norway, Gothenburg Sweden, Tallinn Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia, Helsinki Finland, then Stockholm Sweden, and now we have a sea day while headed to Copenhagen Denmark. It finishes with Bruges Belgium and back to London. I was hoping for meetings on the boat because we have tours in each country including England. My spouse has been wonderful. He basically sat with me while I conducted my own meeting and vocalized how I was working each step at that time. Sort of like I did a tenth step check in with him....not unlike I do with my sponsor and I felt much better....less squirrely. If I had less than a year sober, I could not see doing this. Cruises are challenging....especially when they have no meetings. Been on like 5 cruises in sobriety and 3 had great meetings and 2 (including this one) had nobody showing up at the meetings. I am glad the trolls are dying (thanks Dean and the Banhammer). I laughed because they sell little troll dolls in all the scandinavian countries...made me think of them...lol. I took a picture of myself in norway picking a troll's nose. Fun :)
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... I'm thinking AA is not there much even though it's probably most needed. ...
Just to let you know. I have recently conversed with a Russian AA member. Her experiences of the AA meetings are exactly the same as you would expect anywhere else.
The number of meetings are growing, but remember, they started a long time after it started in America.
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"... unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of recovery." Dr. Silkworth. (Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Ed. p.xxix)
That is good to know Part VII, though since Putin is already impinging upon people's personal freedoms, I'm guessing AA meetings could be at risk. Hopefully it won't get that far. Already, he recently issued a law that made being gay "illegal." Seeing as I attend many gay AA meetings in the states, that would make the meetings I would want and hope for (at least sometimes as I go to regular meetings too)....impossible. Anyhow, I suspect that when one minority group gets trampled on, others will follow....take away freedoms for people to be who they are and other forms of freedom (recovery and recovery meetings) will wind up being taken too. I'm sure AA thrived over the last 23 years since the downfall of the USSR, but if early signs of what is going on now are any indicator, it won't thrive in an oppressive regime.
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
That is good to know Part VII, though since Putin is already impinging upon people's personal freedoms, I'm guessing AA meetings could be at risk. Hopefully it won't get that far. Already, he recently issued a law that made being gay "illegal." Seeing as I attend many gay AA meetings in the states, that would make the meetings I would want and hope for (at least sometimes as I go to regular meetings too)....impossible. Anyhow, I suspect that when one minority group gets trampled on, others will follow....take away freedoms for people to be who they are and other forms of freedom (recovery and recovery meetings) will wind up being taken too. I'm sure AA thrived over the last 23 years since the downfall of the USSR, but if early signs of what is going on now are any indicator, it won't thrive in an oppressive regime.
Hello pinkchip.
(I know this has gone off the topic of trolls). I hope AA in Russia will thrive. I find it difficult to see being an alcoholic "illegal," let alone being gay. Surely they know that it is impossible to illegalize a certain sexuality. It is more likely to be the banning of gay public expression. In any case, if gay AA meetings become illegal, then at least non-gay AA meetings would still be available. If Russia bans AA meetings, I am sure it will survive 'underground'. Russia needs a non-threatening program to overcome alcoholism. They already have a well documented history of how all their other treatments have failed. That is why USSR allowed the AA program before the final collapse of the USSR.
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"... unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of recovery." Dr. Silkworth. (Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Ed. p.xxix)
I can confirm that there are indeed countries where it is illegal to simply be a gay person. And there are countries where organizations such as AA are illegal.
I have been to places where both of these are true.
Until very recently (2003), right here in America, police could barge into a private residence and arrest someone for intimate behavior with their partner, even though it was in the privacy of their own home and behind closed doors.
And there are a number of countries that consider organizations like AA to be 'subversive religious movements' that are a threat to the state, and being involved in one of these organizations can result in a prison sentence.
We have a long way to go to end these types of oppression and needless discrimination.
"... unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of recovery." Dr. Silkworth. (Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Ed. p.xxix)
Interesting. Could it be because people still barbarically believe that somehow these things (being gay or alcoholic) is a CHOICE? Somehow people are choosing or wanting to be discriminated and hated?
"WHY do people and/or governments oppress and discriminate like this?'. That's a BIG question, Tasha. For many years, I've been very involved in issues of rights and discrimination on multiple fronts - public outreach, political activism, following Supreme Court trials, etc. And I've learned a lot and there's a lot to say about that question... but I don't think this is the right forum for me to get on my soapbox about this. I think I've done enough to get us off topic already. Thanks for asking the question, though. It is important.
I didin't take it any way. I've been around the block with this guy before....It wasn't his first rodeo as they say. Maybe it's your user name....I was just curious what you were monitoring.
I didin't take it any way. I've been around the block with this guy before....It wasn't his first rodeo as they say. Maybe it's your user name....I was just curious what you were monitoring.
Oh. My user name isn't very creative. I think I must have had a Todd Rundgren song running through my head that day.
Have a great night Stepchild. Now that's a creative user name!
I have just completed moving into my new home and got internet hooked up. I know this post has seen it's course run but wanted to add my thoughts.
When anyone, anywhere reaches out for help...
If one posts a thread here they are most likely either alcoholic or a troll. If they are alcoholic, they need my understanding and love. If they are a troll, they need it doubly so.
If one posts a thread here they are most likely either alcoholic or a troll. If they are alcoholic, they need my understanding and love. If they are a troll, they need it doubly so.
This I don't buy. I think the BANHAMMER works just fine.
If one posts a thread here they are most likely either alcoholic or a troll. If they are alcoholic, they need my understanding and love. If they are a troll, they need it doubly so.
This I don't buy. I think the BANHAMMER works just fine.
Perhaps you have misunderstood me...perhaps not, but in the interest of clarifying my not so clear post:
I was not taking a position on whether or not to ban folks. Just taking a position on whether to offer love and understanding. To borrow from Al-Anon, 'detach with love'. Detach (ban) or don't detach (don't ban) but either way, act out of love. I do think trolling a recovery site is sad and an indication of a very serious problem...perhaps even one more serious than alcoholism. That we AA's cannot help everyone with every problem is engrained in our traditions - but we can still feel compassion for those who, like us, have a spiritual malady that simply manifests itself differently.
This isn't offered as an argument, just clarification. I realize that I could be wrong.
I saw an air horn on the Amazon deal of the day a while back and I almost bought it to take to meetings - thinking of you of course - and in your honor! LOLOLOL
It is so good to see you my friend. xxxxoxxxx
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
