Not in the Meaning of This Tradition

This is the line the internet gets wrong more often than any other, and getting it wrong costs people at the margin. A.A.'s own literature, plainly (A.A. pamphlet P-43): "When people are asked what led them to seek A.A. help, the answer given most often is: "An A.A. member." Their chances would have been slim if all of us had remained completely in hiding. But many of us have chosen to tell our friends, neighbors, employers, co-workers, doctors, or spiritual advisers that we are in A.A. — and when we do so, we are not breaking our anonymity in the meaning of this Tradition." We are not breaking our anonymity. Telling your doctor is not a break. Telling your employer is not a break. Telling the man at work whose hands shake at nine in the morning is the single most effective thing anyone has ever done for this Fellowship, and it is precisely what the Tradition was built to keep possible. The level named is press, radio and films. Not the kitchen. Not the ward. Not the front seat of a car in a parking lot at four in the afternoon.