I was even more apprehensive about this cultural experience than my last experience at The Way Church. However, my feelings of discomfort and nervousness did not come until I arrived at the location of the AA meeting. I went to a meeting in Northern Orem and at first was unsure that the location even existed as I drove up. Once I saw a gathering of shady-looking people outside in a huddle, my heart immediately plummeted into my stomach. What if these alcoholics were hostile towards me? What if everyone knew I didn't belong? What my presence messed up the entire ambiance of the meeting and nobody was willing to share any experiences because an "outsider" was there?
Luckily, these worries were short lived. As I entered the meeting room, I chose a seat about three rows back; far away enough that people wouldn't stare at me too much, but close enough that I didn't appear to be avoiding unneeded attention. When I walked in, they were in the process of reading the twelve steps to recovery. After these were read, they also moved on to read the twelve traditions of AA and how the meetings were run. I was shocked that God was such an involved part of not only the recovery process, but the traditions of AA. After these were read, the director of the meeting specified that God referred to any higher power that individuals believed in and wasn't necessarily defined as God in the Christian sense.
I was blown away by the sense of community that I felt throughout the entire AA meeting. There was a wide array of people present; a woman with tattoos and gorgeous hair, an older man with a limp, two young girls who looked fresh out of high school, a Polynesian man with his hair pulled back in a lazy bun, and all sorts of other people from different phases of life and ethnic backgrounds. What brought them together was their desire to stop drinking and to stay sober. AA runs on a 24 hour commitment program. The meetings are held every day, not just once a week as I had thought previously. All those who attend commit to not drink for the next 24 hours and fight their alcoholism one day at a time.
Although I was lacking in social capital and didn't know anyone at the meeting who I could talk to or make me feel like I belonged, the ambiance of the entire meeting was a welcoming one. I felt absolutely no hostility toward me and no pressure to speak up or explain why I was there. I was simply adopted into the space without any objections from anyone. The people who attend these meeting and run these meetings have clearly set aside their prejudices in order to create the community of AA and ensure that anyone who enters feels welcome. As various people shared their successes and their struggles, one of the men who spoke claimed, "All the nondrinkers, if they knew what we had, might start drinking to get here." He was so sincerely grateful for the peace and love that he felt at every AA meeting and he recognized that very few people have such a non-hostile and accepting space they can participate in. The only true cultural capital necessary to participate in AA was this: the desire to stop drinking. And even though I did not possess this particular piece of cultural capital in the same way that others did because I am not an alcoholic, my knowledge of the consequences of alcoholism that I have obtained from family members allowed me to sympathize with all the stories I heard in that room.
I hope that I can create a classroom that is as loving and accepting as this AA meeting was. This space took in anyone and everyone who wanted to participate and valued what every person in that room had to say regardless of ethnicity, gender, physical appearance, or age. To create a classroom as accepting and non-prejudiced and non-discriminatory as this one would be a dream come true.
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