In 1989 I got clean in NA but everyone in my group went to AA meetings a couple of nights a week. I remember on a Sunday afternoon all the old timers were sitting around smoking cigarettes and telling stories with the elderly men and women at this particularly strong AA Group in Fort Worth. This lady sat down by me and was sharing with me, at some point she saw the nasty looking tracks in my arm, they are almost gone now but they stood out and were dark then and shaped like a Y at the crevace of my left arm. She touched them and went as far as to get a pair of bifocals out to get a good look. I could tell she was fascinated. Then she looked at me still running her finger over them and said; "I'd be ashamed, you should wear long sleeves." After that I went to a couple more meetings that she and her son who was about my age were at and they'd make a team effort to hand the basket to a guy on my left and pick it up from the guy on my right.

That was just 2 people out of the dozens that accepted me at that group. But I didn't go back for many years. At some point I came to the realization I had chosen to have a resentment and had to make effort to get over it. The main thing is, no matter where they're from I hope I never alienate someone in my group that way. No matter what they say.