Seriously. I just saw a true “what were they thinking” ad.

We see a bullet flying through the air (slowed down a great deal, so it’s clear). It flies into the neck of a bottle and crashes through the bottom of the bottle. Out of the spray of broken glass, a car emerges.

Is it an ad about car safety? About the dangers of drinking and driving?

No. It’s an ad for the car.

Dumbest. Ad. Ever.

We hear it all the time. “Keep coming back.”

People say it as a mantra when a newcomer talks about how hard it is. Or when someone slips and wonders if the program can really help them. And mostly, we mean it when we say it.

But I’ve heard some old-timers … no, wait. Not old-timers. More like “middle-timers.” Anyway, there are sometimes people who grumble about people who slip over and over. Expressions of “they’re just wasting our time” or “they’re not serious about sobriety.”

While I recognize that some days it can be hard to applaud convincingly when seeing someone get their umpteenth 30-day chip, I think the grumblers are missing the point. As far as I know, we have all slipped many many times. Some of us do it in the rooms. Some of us do it on our own, before we ever find our way into the program.

Think of all the folks who NEVER find their way in. I betcha many of them tell themselves “tomorrow I won’t do this to myself again” over and over. We would welcome them gladly if they ever found one of our clubhouses, despite the fact that they’re big-time slippers.

We should celebrate the courage of anyone who comes back, no matter how many times it happens. Hell, we should celebrate each and every one of us who attends a meeting. We’re miracles.

So quit your bitching.

Okay, I’m done now…