Carrie is back! Between the two of us, we have 54 years of recovery—and a lot to say about AA old-timers. What even makes someone an old-timer, and why does time sober so often translate into authority?
We talk about the hierarchy around sober time, “AA math,” sponsorship and service, the difference between longevity and expertise, predatory old-timers, and the recovery beliefs we once accepted and passed on ourselves. We also get into what happens when you stop treating sober time as a measure of wisdom, healing, or how much someone else should listen to you.
Carrie's Substack
Timestamps:
00:00 What AA Old Timers Get Wrong Intro
04:24 Good People In AA
07:53 54 Years of Recovery
14:48 Sober As Long As You Drank
16:23 Counting Recovery Time
22:22 Quitting w/o Centering It
25:19 Sponsors Who Shame You
30:16 What is an AA Old Timer?
42:31 AA Gurus and AA Hierarchy
46:50 AA Sober Time vs. Addiction Expertise
56:15 Bill W Says Recovery Requires Religion
56:51 When Old Timers Hit On You
1:01:54 What Half a Century of Recovery Means
1:08:58 Getting an AA Old Timer to Leave AA
1:22:14 Saying "AA is BS" Out Loud
1:33:10 Old Timer One Liners
1:35:49 Sobriety Chips and AA Tattoos
1:46:31 Good AA Old Timers
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