"AAA" (The American Automobile Association) had been receiving a number of phone calls from "AA" (Alcoholics Anonymous) members who had become addicted to 12-step programs and sought help. Apparently believing the letters "AAA" stood for Alcoholics Anonymous Anonymous, The callers were disappointed to find this was not the case.
The president of "AAA" decided to refer all the calls to a central hub where the callers could coordinate with each other, which they did, and a few days later, they held the first Alcoholics Anonymous, Anonymous meeting. The meeting was deemed a success and others were scheduled. However the "AAA" meetings were conducted without supervision of a qualified 12-step program director and it was discovered the the participants had been done more harm than good by the proceedings. The leader of the unsuccessful "AAA" meetings decided to recruit the help of a qualified 12-step expert and attempt to undo the damage that had been done.
The meeting was called "AAAA," (Alcoholics Anonymous Anonymous Anonymous), but even under the supervision of a trained expert, the results proved disastrous. it was agreed that the previous group was far more useful and the "AAA" was reconvened the following day. At this meeting, the folly of the whole thing was discussed and it was unanimously agreed upon that good old "AA" was the best thing all along. All the participants rejoined their original "AA" chapter but shortly afterward found themselves on the street, drinking and homeless, right back where they had started.
The only difference was, they were now together as a group and it was agreed that this arrangement was vastly preferable to the way they had all started. A celebration was held at a local bar and a good time was had by everyone. They continued to meet each day and have a good time drinking and talking. A few months passed and two of the people in the group had managed to reduce their drinking enough to actually acquire jobs. This came as a great inspiration to the members of the group and several weeks later, three more had done the same thing.
It had become a fun challenge to see who would be the next to get a job and after all, they had nothing to lose for trying. Before too long, every member of the group had found gainful employment and some had even been sober for a while. They met one evening after work, looking fairly respectable I might add, and drank to their success. A decision was made that they would pool their resources, which were substantial by now, and buy a house. A few months later, they moved into a spacious 2 story, well-maintained house in a decent part of town. There was plenty of room for everyone to reside comfortably and still keep a large community room as a meeting hall where, every night, the entire group got together after work to drink and talk. They decided to call their happy little group, "A" which stood for Alcoholics. And to this day, they all live happily ever after.
by numbsain
