“Dear
‘Fellas’,
“I am interested in
your website, and have been encouraged to submit an email to you by
other members. I currently live in …....... I attend intergroup
meetings for the London (South West) Intergroup (LSWIG), which meets
in St Mark’s Church Hall, Compton Road, Wimbledon, …...... I have
witnessed the behaviours of the individual whom you refer to as
‘Billy the Kid’ at both group and intergroup levels, as well as
outside AA.
Billy
used to attend intergroup as GSR for Richmond Tuesday, and every time
he would attempt to raise the same issues (usually revolving round
compliance to his ideals; trying to make the six suggestion card
conference-approved, trying to get conference to adopt Dr Bob’s
‘Back to Basics’ programme from the 1940s to combat “AA
Shrinkage”). He invariably sat in the same corner of the room with
his sponsor, a couple of his sponsees and a few other pals of his,
and when everyone came to vote at intergroup or GSR, if they voted
differently to him, Billy would sigh or roll his eyes, pull them to
one side and try to explain them why they should be voting with him,
and demand a recount. I also attend the Hampton Wick meeting on
occasion with a friend who still lives in Kingston. I was in
attendance when Billy grabbed the secretary by the arm to stop him
from walking away while he told him to ‘stick to the crib sheet’
(for your information, grabbing someone by the arm in a manner
like that is considered a form of common assault by UK law, not
that this is a surprise – Billy fell out with a sponsee and became
really aggressive towards him, and in Billy’s own words, the
sponsee thought “...[Billy] was going to hit him”. Billy’s
view, however, is that, in spite of the aggression and getting in the
sponsee’s face, Billy claims it’s not his problem as the sponsee
only thought he was going to hit him. Well, that’s
alright then! Incidentally, this is the ethos behind Billy's manner -
he behaves abusively and the blame lies with the other person for
having the resentment).
I
feel really sorry for the members of AA who fall foul of Billy’s
actions. He appears to have a lot of ‘yes-men’ sponsees who are
suggestible and do things because he tells them to. He also has a
sponsee called D. (who from my understanding is better known in AA by
his surname than his first name) who actively claims to promote the
Tuesday meeting in a lot of other meetings using fliers (I do not
have one). Billy also has a sponsee called S. who on two occasions
called me to ask me if I was calling my sponsor every day; he called
me once at around midnight and once at 1.30am. I also feel sorry for
Billy – so convinced is he that AA has lost its way that he and his
cohorts pre-screen chairs before allowing them to share (but only if
they are from ‘outside’ groups rather than the
politically-approved groups – Tottenham/North London, Strood etc)
and ask every newcomer who their sponsee is, and often advise that
they should change sponsors to one from the group. Then again, I am
not surprised Billy is the way he is; his sponsor is an actor named
R. who tells his sponsees not to pick their kids up from school and
to leave them waiting until after the meeting because they need to be
at their home group an hour before the meeting starts - one of his
several 'Joys of Recovery' traits.
….....
there is a very ‘happy clappy’ meeting in Burnham on a Saturday
morning. Someone from the area tells me the American woman who ‘runs’
the meeting formed the Joys of Recovery in Detroit with her husband
(who is now the secretary at Hampton Wick). ….... I am willing to
be of any assistance I can. I am also curious as to what other
information you have on this meeting.
Yours
in fellowship,
…....
(Anonymously)”
(our
edits)
Comment:
Apparently Billy is clinging to the hope that we're just going to
lose interest in his thuggery, and that aacultwatch is going to
go away! Doesn't look like it does it! We've also been informed
that our website has been proscribed by the cult hierarchy – and
that on no account should their sponsees surf us. Fantastic! What an
endorsement! But you know what they say about forbidden fruit?
Tastes all the better!
Cheerio
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS
More to follow on the Detroit connection
