No rant here...AA has been successful in helping me stay sober one days at a time. While I was scared to death the first few meetings I went to, all it took was some shopping around to find some meetings where I felt comfortable. It was the same in finding a sponsor...I just went to meetings until I found a person whose message struck me. He & I are more best friends now than just sponsor/sponsee. There are all kinds of people at meetings & many different styles of meetings. It's just a matter of finding the people/groups among whom you feel comfortable.