MANY OF US THOUGHT WE WERE SPECIAL
"A.A. won't work for me. I'm too far gone." "It's nice for those people, but I'm president of the P.T.A." I'm too old. Too young. Not religious enough. I'm gay. Or Jewish. A professional person. A member of the clergy. Too smart. Or too uneducated.
At this moment, people all over the world are thinking that A.A. probably won't work in their case for one or several of these reasons. Perhaps you are one of these people.
We in A.A. believe alcoholism is a disease that is no respecter of age, sex, creed, race, wealth, occupation, or education. It strikes at random. Our experience seems to show that anyone can be an alcoholic. And, beyond question, anyone who wants to stop drinking is welcome in A.A.
Our co-founder Bill W., in telling about A.A.'s earliest days, wrote:
"In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the `high bottoms,' the women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves, the picture changed.
"This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The skid-rower said he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same. So did the artists and the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and the prisoners.
"But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are finally down.
"In the stories that follow, you may encounter men and women whose race, age, sexual preference, or any number of other conditions are similar to yours. They came to A.A. and found that Alcoholics Anonymous worked just as well for them as it had for hundreds of thousands of others of us who thought we were "different." We found help, and we found friends with whom we could identify and share our experiences.
We are no longer alone.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS© is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.


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http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/