The Almost-Right Argument

Some A.A. towns have a small office with one paid worker. She answers the phone, keeps the meeting list current, and tells a shaky stranger where tonight's meeting is. Now imagine the group's business meeting. Somebody stands up with the Tradition in hand and yells: "She talks to alcoholics all day, that is Twelfth Step work, and Twelfth Step work is never paid!" Nobody is being selfish; the room believes it is protecting A.A. The vote passes, the paid worker is let go, and within a year the phone is a recording. The fight is older than the Tradition. Bill W. wrote down the shout as he heard it (A.A. Comes of Age): "Professionalism! That guy is making money out of A.A.!" And he recorded what nobody checked: not one of the accused had been "hired to do A.A.'s Twelfth Step work." P-43, A.A.'s own pamphlet, asks the question straight and answers it: "but are these A.A.'s then being paid for doing Twelfth Step work? No. In the office, they are just paving the way for this work." Answering the phone is not carrying the message — it is what makes carrying it possible. The group meant to protect the Tradition and broke it instead: a stranger called, and nobody was there.