Some friends of ours are currently on a cruise \u2014 actually, a couple of cruises, I think. That reminded me of a conversation I had with another friend not too long ago, after he and his wife had returned from their first cruise. We were talking about his experience and he mentioned that there was a \u201cFriends of Bill W.\u201d meeting listed for every day of their cruise. My friend didn\u2019t know who Bill W. was\u2026. he was curious as to who he was (and he probably wondered how he had made so many friends.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve been on a number of cruises on a number of cruise lines. On every ship, there are always meeting announcements in the ship\u2019s daily schedule for various groups, e.g., the Jones family reunion, bridge clubs, maybe some educational courses, etc. One meeting that was always on the schedule was \u201cFriends of Bill W.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
William \u201cBill W.\u201d Wilson is the co-founder of of Alcoholics anonymous (AA) \u2014 along with Dr. Bob Smith. Apparently when AA members started approaching cruise directors about holding meetings during the sailing and publicizing it in the ship\u2019s announcements, the cruise lines were hesitant. The cruise companies were afraid that blatantly announcing an AA meeting might upset some of the passengers. That\u2019s when the euphemism \u201cFriends of Bill W.\u201d began to be used. We haven\u2019t been on a cruise for a few years, but apparently these \u201cinsider announcements\u201d have expanded to include \u201cFriends of Jimmy K.\u201d and \u201cFriends of Dorothy.\u201d
\u201cJimmy K.\u201d refers to James Kinnon who founded Narcotics Anonymous. NA is patterned after AA, including the same principle of anonymity reflecting that no addict is above any other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friends of Dorothy was completely new to me \u2014 my extensive research determined that it was originally for gay men, but now encompasses the entire LGBT community. There doesn\u2019t seem to be a clear answer to who \u201cDorothy\u201d is or why that name was chosen. It seems that the phrase \u201cfriends of Dorothy\u201d dates back to at least WWII as a way of discussing sexual orientation without outsiders knowing. It\u2019s interesting that in Britain, the term was \u201cfriends of Mr. King\u201d \u2014 i.e., a \u201cQueen.\u201d
One theory is that the phrase refers to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy was accepting of others who were \u201cdifferent\u201d such as the Cowardly Lion who was forced to hide his real identity and live a lie. The lion had a line in the movie declaring \u201cWe\u2019re friends of Dorothy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for whatever reason, these \u201cfriends\u201d meetings are popular on cruise ships. Most cruise lines provide meeting space as a service members.\u00a0
The use of \u201cfriends\u201d by all these support groups is probably no accident \u2014 after all, \u201cthat\u2019s what friends are for.\u201d\u00a0
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some friends of ours are currently on a cruise \u2014 actually, a couple of cruises, I think. That reminded me of a conversation I had with another friend not too long ago, after he and his wife had returned from … Continue reading