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Service work in AA recovery isn't about giving back - it's about belonging, commitment, and staying sober.
"I don't even drink coffee."
"That's fine. You haven't been nominated to drink coffee. You've been nominated to make coffee."
Steve heard this exchange at his Thursday night men's meeting, and it might be the greatest line about service work ever spoken. Because that's exactly what service work is - doing something that isn't about you, that gets you connected, that gets you showing up.
In this episode, Matt and Steve dig into service work in recovery - what it is, why people are afraid of it, and why it might be one of the most important parts of staying sober that nobody talks about enough.
Matt opens up about his early motivation for service work, and it wasn't the noble "giving back" thing everyone talks about. It was simpler: "I wanted to feel like I belonged." He shares the story of being a door greeter at the Tuesday night Forbes Street meeting - scared out of his mind, showing up 30 minutes early every week, hugging everyone who walked in. By the end of 5 weeks, he knew everyone in that room. That's the power of service work.
Steve talks about his journey from cleaning ashtrays and taking out trash at his Friday night men's meeting to doing district-level work 15+ years later. But here's what he says: "The most rewarding service work is still at the meeting level - because that's where you meet the new alcoholic, the fresh alcoholic who just came out of rehab or is just looking for a meeting."
We break down what service work actually looks like:
- The basics: Putting away chairs, breaking down tables, making coffee
- The commitments: Chairing meetings, being treasurer, being secretary
- The next level: GSR (General Service Representative), district work
- The often-overlooked one: Driving people to meetings
Matt shares the "dirty little secret" about service work: it gets you to go to meetings. When you have a commitment - coffee maker, chairperson, door greeter - you show up. You don't bail because you don't feel like it. You're expected to be there, so you go. And that commitment to the meeting becomes a commitment to your sobriety.
Steve talks about why he keeps taking service commitments even after 15+ years: "It makes me part of that meeting so much more quickly. This Wednesday noon meeting, I've only been going for about a year and a half, and there are people who've been there for 20 years. But taking the coffee commitment puts me in as part of that group way faster than if I just show up and never do anything."
We also tackle the fears people have about service work:
- "I'm too new" (Matt's fear early on)
- "I'll do it wrong" (Matt's coffee-making anxiety)
- "People will judge me"
- The truth: The stakes are incredibly low. You can't really screw this up.
Plus: The story of Ted S. filling the entire percolator basket with coffee grounds because he'd never made coffee before (that's one STRONG cup), why the phone weighs 500 pounds but picking someone up for a meeting is huge service work, and Matt's realization that he never volunteered for coffee at the Monday meeting because he doesn't drink coffee there (problem solved - he's volunteering now).
If you're new to recovery and wondering if you should take
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