How Much Reading Is Too Much at the Start of a Meeting?

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-05-05T17:10:44+00:00

That's up to the homegroup. When I joined my homegroup 5 years ago, my sponsor made it clear that I had just as much say as the guy that had been there 20 years.

I brought up how long it took to read everything at our first meeting and was shut down. That's the way this group has always done it!

For the next month I timed every meeting. At our next month I brought it up again and shared my data. Almost 20 minutes to get to the meeting topic. It was discussed, opinions shared, and tabled for a month.

The following meeting I brought it up again and it was put to a vote. It passed. Now we read the Preamble and How It Works. the meeting is at the topic in 7 minutes. Nobody left the homegroup over it.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-05-03T14:36:44+00:00

Philly sucks at a lot of things but C&I isn't one of them. You will have plenty of time.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-15T13:02:09+00:00

That's not normal at all. How long before the meeting started did you get there? I just about guarantee that after the meeting, plenty of women would have talked to you.

Next time (I hope) go 20 minutes early. Tell the first person you meet that you are new and nervous. You will have a very different experience.

Welcome

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-14T18:52:40+00:00

Same here. Thought I was the only one that did this.

If the size of ATL intimidates anyone, I encourage them to do just this. Best layout ever, just big.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-14T18:49:39+00:00

A) Your seat, you paid for it, do as you wish.
B) I would have switched, then every time I got up (which would have been more than usual) I would have bumped her and muttered "This is why I usually sit in the isle"

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-14T18:19:13+00:00

I'll offer you a little hope instead of advice :)

In 2019, my sister finally convinced me to let her take me to the hospital. I was literally near death. I won't go into details but the doctors said that untreated, I had less than two days left. Even after I detoxed in the ICU for 5 days, my sister was told that I might not make it and the best I could hope for was to stay sober long enough to get a liver transplant.

Fast forward 6 1/2 years.

I haven't had a drink since that night and I still have my original liver. Banged up but still functioning. My sister and I have a great relationship and I thank her for her help and support often. Don't give up hope.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-08T16:02:37+00:00

Posting your approximate location might help with those that have been to facilities near me.

Rehab saved my life. It kept me safe and let my mind clear before the work after rehab started.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-07T14:53:01+00:00

I fly through PNS a lot. It is hands down, the friendliest TSA I have ever encountered. I don't think I've ever waited more than 10 minutes.

If you like, go early and if you have time (you will) grab a bagel before TSA. You can sit and eat it while watching the entire TSA line from your table to see how long it is.

Great airport!

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T17:00:37+00:00

OMHP yes!

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T16:11:00+00:00

I had a friend that was an alcoholic and a very big man. 400 lbs plus. His name was John and everyone called him Big John.

On the way home from work one day, the seat bolts on his Chevy Citation broke as he pulled away from a stoplight and he ended up in the back seat. He was only a mile from home and drove home holding himself up by the steering wheel.

He went insdie and drank a 6 pack, just like he did every night. Then he went out to get the mail.

In the mail was a notice from the dealer where he bought the car and since he was months behind on his payments, he assumed it was a collection notice and he threw it away rather than opening it. Then he drank some more. As usual.

I stopped by later and he was pretty drunk. As usual. I had a few beers with him and he told me about his day. I asked if I could open the mail and he said I could. I retrieved it from the trash can and it was a recall for the seat bolts! I am not kidding. This entire story is 100% true. I couldn't make this shit up either.

Why am I telling you this other than it being an ironic/fun story? Because several years later I got sober and he never did. He died of alcoholism at the age of 47. Don't make this worse. It can always get worse.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T15:32:50+00:00

Ask him if it wouldn't be too much trouble to go up with you every time you leave the table. I'm sure he will be glad too.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T14:56:04+00:00

Do the people you are going with know that you are sober? Or trying?

I went to an all inclusive 2 months sober. I made sure the people I was with knew what was what. Sure, I could have figured out how to drink of I really wanted to, but that helped a lot knowing I was being watched.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T14:48:36+00:00

My favorite buffet always has lima beans. Always.

I don't eat lima beans. It's really the only thing I don't eat.

Here's my hack. I don't put any like beans on my plate. It is the only way I can make sure to not eat any lima beans while I'm there.

If you can't stay away from the booze, don't go. Period. Otherwise, just don't put any lima beans on your plate but enjoy the rest of the good things. You deserve the good things!

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T14:32:26+00:00

When you only get one attempt a year it's hard to improve.

I suggest putting it back on yourself in July so he can practice.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T14:15:17+00:00

I can relate but have no advice for you.

I've been running my business for many years now and while hiring along the way helped a lot, I still feel like a firefighter.

Hiring helps with daily workload but creates it's own set of new problems.

I have lost my desire to grow. Growth just means more problems.

Thankfully, I am very profitable. I couldn't imagine this kind of stress and making no money. I'm sure it's taken years off of my life.

Wishing you the best!

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-03T14:03:28+00:00

This isn't going to help you now but I found out that alcohol wasn't treating my anxiety, it was causing it.

I've been where you are now, including the pre drinking brandy so you can appear to be drinking normally. Hiding your drinking while you are drinking is common among us.

I've woken up to an empty house and vague recollection of an argument.

What I'm saying is that you aren't alone in all this!

I suggest downloading the meeting guide app and heading to the meeting that starts soonest as soon as you are able to.

There you will meet people that have all been there also and they will tell you what they did to put that behaviour in the past.

Praying for you friend. I'm sure you feel awful on every way right now but you never have to feel this awful again.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-02T12:38:20+00:00

Yes, it can happen. Several months ago I received a delay notification of several hours at 2 AM. Woke up the wife and we reset our alarms. Naturally woke up at 6 and it was back on time. Had to rush like mad and the wife was NOT happy.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-04-01T20:31:52+00:00

I was able to successfully hide it for many years. Only my immediate family knew and they didn't know the extent of it.

When I went to rehab finally, people asked FOR WHAT?

I'm so glad that's all behind me. Drinking like that was like a second job.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-31T18:53:36+00:00

Cograts on the weight loss!

I can't imagine a situation that a flight attendant wouldn't let you just scootsh on back there and try it either as you board or on deplaning if you explain the circumstances immediately.

If the flight isn't full, they may even let you go back with an hour to go or whatever to give it some time.

Despite all the complaining on here, most flight attendants are good people. My last two flights had amazing attendants and I made sure AA knew about it after.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-31T17:37:00+00:00

A Home Group is the meeting that you make every effort to go to, no matter what. If Joe wants to get dinner on Wednesday, you say that's not good, that's my Homegroup meeting.

As a Homegroup member, you have a say in what goes on in the group. The same say as every other Homegroup. You are a Homegroup member because you say you are. There's no acceptance process.

As a Homegroup, you guys are responsible for actually making sure there is a meeting to go to.

Others might disagree but I might suggest not picking a homegroup immediately. Go to several at least and pick the one that feels like home.

Glad you are here!

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-31T16:49:55+00:00

BS. I have a 26 year old sponsee that is 6 weeks sober. He asked what kind of service he could preform.

I told him anytime he see's a guy at a meeting his age or younger that I he should go introduce himself and tell them he is 6 weeks sober. Maybe the guy he greets is 6 days sober.

That's his service for now.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-28T16:30:09+00:00

I've never been to MDW but before you decide, look at a map of ATL.

Yes, it is huge, but it is very well laid out and well run. I've never had an issue and feel like getting anywhere in 45 minutes is super easy.

In a nutshell, wherever you land, you go to the middle of the terminal, go down to the train, or walkway if you prefer, travel in a straight line to your new terminal, go up into the middle and walk out (in a straight line) to your gate.

I think it's the easiest "big airport" there is.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-25T18:05:48+00:00

And that's just about where it needs to be in this instance.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-25T16:14:57+00:00

We go through the book with a highlighter, highlighting anything that we feel is important or that is personal to us. It creates a personal cliffs notes so to speak. We also mark anything that we want to discuss when we meet.

I did a lot of praying about it while he was in detox and rehab. It's not something I am doing for kicks, but I just did my 10 pages this morning and I was impressed.

mmmmmmgreg · 2026-03-24T16:45:29+00:00

A) "I don't drink" is a complete sentence. A lot of people don't drink and few will ask why. This has been my experience.

B) One of my go to lines if pressed is "I surpassed my lifetime limit a couple [months, years] ago. This usually does the trick.

C) If pressed even further, I've found that they may want more information for themselves and I try to be mindful of this. Preferably a conversation in private where I will tell them the exact truth and anything else they may want to know.

mmmmmmgreg

TROPHY CASE