There's nothing to be scared off - ok I was terrified of my first meeting too. If you're going to an open meeting, they all pretty much follow the same routine. They'll open with a moment of silence usually followed by the serenity prayer. Then there will be a bunch of readings, but the people doing the readings have all been selected before the meeting starts by the chairperson. There will be the group secretary's announcements of upcoming birthdays (sobriety dates) and they'll ask for announcements from the floor. Some meetings will ask if there are any out of town visistors or new people. It's totally up to you if you want to introduce yourself or not if they ask. They may give out chips. Chips are these little plastic tokens to mark lengths of sobriety in your first year. they have them for 30 days, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months and 9 months. They also have what's called a desire chip. That's for anyone who is new to the program who has a desire to stop drinking and kind of represents your committment to yourself not to drink. They'll pass a basket for donations. You don't have to put anything in if you can't afford it. The suggested donation around Toronto is $2 but lots of people can't afford that so just put what they can in or nothing at all. Then there will be a speaker who will tell about their experiences drinking, getting sober, and what life is like today. You just have to sit and listen.

Don't be surprised if lots of people come up to you to introduce themselves and say hi. AA's tend to be pretty friendly, I actually found it kind of overwhelming at first.

You might also find other women, once they find out you're new offering to give you phone numbers. When they say you can call them - they mean it. Helping other alcoholics is a big part of the program.

You could also do what I did at my first meeting, based on the suggestion of the guy on the AA hotline. When I got there I asked to speak to the group secretary, and told her that I was new. She introduced me to a bunch of people and gave me tons of literature to read.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the meeting.

--splitimage