Went to AA world convention in Toronto in 2005. There were 55,000+ people from all over the world in attendance, and it was held at the stadium, which was FULL.

The conference decided they would have the guy with the longest sobriety speak. He had something like 60 years under his belt. I'm not sure what they said to him, or when, or how the decision came to be, but he was NOT prepared.

He is the very last to go after other speakers, so I'm sure there was the additional pressure to do "better". He gets up to the podium in front of everyone and mumbles for about 30 seconds--to a crowd of over 50k who traveled across the world for this event. Then he goes completely taut. He looks like he is caught in some kind of absence seizure. He has 14.5 minutes left, and I just keep imagining someone, anyone, is going to come on stage, or speak up from the audience, and tell him its okay, and he can just walk away.

Instead we endure 15 minutes of him in absolute terror and rapture. He finally walks off after everyone starts awkwardly clapping. So, so painful. I just wanted to go hug him.