I wanted to raise the question today of titles. Today there are many titles for “sobriety”.
In the big book it references “on the wagon”. As I often do when I read things in the Big Book I wondered where did this originate from? The term on the wagon actually predates AA. Best I can reference comes from the early temperance movement. In those days horse drawn “water-wagons” sprayed the dirt roads in the summer to keep the dust down. It seems temperance advocates would pledge to drink water only and when tempted would say they were “on the water cart or the water wagon”. Eventually this evolved to “on the wagon” and resuming drinking as “falling off the wagon”.
Other more conventional terms that you may see on social media include dry, abstinent, sober curious, mindful, cold sober, California sober, clean, drying out, free of alcohol, not partaking, living clean, nondrinker, took a pledge, sworn off, non-indulging, or alcohol free.
As I am progressing in my sobriety, I am faced more and more with social situations where others are drinking, and drinks are offered. I’ve been trying to come to terms with my “title” or my standard response to declining to partake. It seems I am often asked. The word alcoholic although used loving in the rooms of AA still carries quite derogatory meaning for others. It’s a complicated situation, although I am quite proud of my sobriety and my membership in AA, do I want to explain that to everyone? How long of a conversation do I want to have? In my complicated alcoholic brain, is this just my ego talking and should I simply say I’m Jennifer I’m an alcoholic and I’m not drinking? I also have no remorse calling myself an alcoholic but hearing it from others outside the rooms in the past has not been so easy to hear
A passage on page 70 of Living Sober states ” after even more time has passed many of us reach a stage of real comfort about ourselves and drinking; we are relaxed enough to tell the exact truth-that we are “recovered alcoholics” or that we are in AA.”
That statement inspires me.