Grace
Friends don't let friends fly without a meeting
From Pulteny, New York
In the early 1990s, I was treating a woman in an alcoholism outpatient group.
"Grace" was a flight attendant with a major ailine and had been suspend from
her job. Her employer had sent her to us.
I suggested that she solidify her foundation in recovery before returning to
work, as she would be working in a high-risk environment (serving alcohol, etc.).
But she returned to work shortly after the eight-week treatment. One day,
while she was departing from a plane in the Los Angeles International Airport,
a major craving for alcohol overpowered her.
Oh, the heck with it, Grace thought; I'll get another job or maybe no one will
find out. She truly wanted to stay sober, but she was in trouble.
On her way to the airport bar, Grace had a moment of sanity. She picked up the
paging phone and said, "Will you please page friends of Bill W.," she paused,
looking around for an empty gate, "to come to Gate 12?" Withing minutes,
over the paging system, came: "Will friends of Bill W. please come to Gate 12?"
In less than five minutes, there were about fifteen people at that gate from
all over the world. That brought tears of amazement, relief, and joy to Grace.
They had a little meeting there in that empty gate, total strangers prior to that
moment. Two of them had missed their flights to answer her call for help.
Grace did not drink that day. I would venture to guess that none of the
people who came to Gate 12 drank that day either.
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