More: Alcoholism (Continued)
C: The first example is a friend we'll call Jim. Jim seems to be Joe's main man for some reason. Joe usually gets screwed up with Jim so we'll see what he can do with him today. Joe?
J: He starts me off in trouble with Jim. This guy--I love this guy. I can identify with him. (p. 35, par. 3) 'This man has a charming wife and family. He inherited a lucrative automobile agency. He had a commendable World War record. He is a good salesman. Everybody likes him. ' Typical alcoholic.
(p. 35, par. 3) 'He is an intelligent man, normal so far as we can see, except for a nervous disposition. He did no drinking until he was thirty-five. In a few years he became so violent when intoxicated that he had to be committed. On leaving the... ' Treatment center. (Joe's word for asylum) (p. 35, par. 3) '... he came into contact with us.'
You know, back in those days they called them asylums. Now they call them treatment centers. They're the same thing. They changed the name of them, but: same old thing. (p. 35, par. 4) 'We told him what we knew of alcoholism... ' I--John and I talk about that, but I work in one of those things--that's what this thing is all about.
Says: (p. 35, par. 4) 'We told him what we knew of alcoholism...' And that's Step One. They told him what the problem was. (p. 35, par. 4) '... and the answer we had found. ' They must have told him that the answer is a Power greater than ourselves. So they most have told him Step Two. (p. 35, par. 4) 'He made a beginning. '
(End of Side B or Tape 3)
If we will notice at the end of Step Three in the Big Book, it says Step Three is a beginning. (p. 63par. 3) So... Jim took the first three steps. (p. 35, par. 4) 'His family was re-assembled, and he began to work as a salesman for the business he had lost through drinking. All went well for a time, but he failed to enlarge his spiritual life.'
The only way you can enlarge on Step Three is Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and this guy just stopped at Step Three and did no more. (p. 35, par. 4) 'To his consternation, he found himself drunk half a dozen times in rapid succession.' Jim got drunk six times real quick.
(p. 35, par. 4) 'On each of these occasions we worked with him, reviewing carefully what had happened.' These were good A.A. members in those days. Remember. Now days, I don't think you could get somebody to work with you if you got drunk six times. They wouldn't be bothered with you no more. But they went over and worked with him each time he got drunk.
(p. 35, par. 4) 'He agreed he was a real alcoholic and in a serious condition. ' He agreed to Step One. (p. 35, par. 4 p. 36. par. 1) 'He knew he faced another trip to the asylum if he kept on. Moreover, he would lose his family for whom he had a deep affection.
(top of p. 36) 'Yet he got drunk again. ' Now, this is seven times. These were good A.A. members, but they were getting kind of tired of Jim. (laughter) You know, after seven times, they say, well, look Jim. Look, we've been over here seven times now. How are you getting drunk? How is this happening, Jim?
(p. 36, par. 1) 'We asked him to tell us exactly how it happened. This is his story: "I came to work on Tuesday morning.' Charlie and I studied the book many, many years before we saw this. I came to work on Tuesday morning. Where was this guy Monday? (laughter) It did say Tuesday, didn't it?
C: Where was he all day Monday?
J: Bad about Mondays.
C: Now, let's look in Jim's story for sanity and insanity. Remember, sanity is the ability to see the truth. Insanity is when we believe a lie. Let's look and see when this guy became insane. Joe?
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'I remember I felt irritated that I had to be a salesman for a concern I once owned.'
C: I think this is absolutely normal thinking. I think any of us that had to be a salesman for a concern that we once owned would probably be a little bit irritated about that. So I think that's normal, sane thinking.
J: (p. 36) 'I had a few words with the boss, but nothing serious.'
C: It's normal, sane thinking. The boss probably said, where were you yesterday, Jim? (laughter) Here it is Tuesday morning, you've been gone all day Monday. Nothing really serious, but he had a few words with the boss that morning.
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'Then I decided to drive into the country and see one of my prospects for a car.'
C: Normal, sane thinking. This guy is a car salesman. If you're a good car salesman, you're on (the) go all the time. You're looking for a prospect everywhere you go. He knows (about) this one out in the country. He going to go see if he can sell him a car. What's more normal than for a car salesman to do that?
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'On the way I felt hungry so I stopped at a roadside place where they have a bar.'
C: This is normal, sane thinking. There's nothing wrong with being hungry. In that part of the country, in those days especially, you could hardly find a place that did not have a bar. So this is normal, sane thinking.
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'I had no intention of drinking. I just thought I would get a sandwich.'
C: Didn't go in the bar to drink. Had no intention of drinking. You're hungry, so what's more normal than to go in there so you can get yourself a sandwich. Normal, sane thinking.
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'I also had the notion that I might find a customer for a car at this place, which was familiar for I had been going to it for years.'
C: Been going in there for years. We're not going in there to drink. May even find another customer while we're in there. Normal, sane thinking.
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'I had eaten there many times during the months I was sober.'
C: Not going in there to drink. We're going in there to eat. We've been doing that lots of times since we were sober. Normal sane thinking.
J: All this guy's intention, his thinking, is to get a sandwich, and maybe see a prospect for a car. He didn't go in there to go back to the asylum. (laughter) Okay: (p. 36, par. 1) 'I sat down at
a table and ordered a sandwich and a glass of milk.'
C: Normal sane thinking. If you're hungry, what's more normal than to sit down at a table and order a sandwich and a glass of milk. Normal, sane thinking.
J: (p. 36, par. 1) 'Still no thought of drinking. I ordered another sandwich and decided to have another glass of milk.'
C: Nothing wrong with this. If you're hungry, there's nothing wrong with two sandwiches, and two glasses of milk. Normal, sane thinking. Now, look out though, the next statement (laughter) is in squiggly writing. Let's see what it says.
J: Look how his mind changed. (p. 36, par. 2) Suddenly the thought crossed my mind that if I were to put an ounce of whiskey in my milk it couldn't hurt me on a full stomach.'
C: He became absolutely insane. (laughter) He believed something that isn't true.
J: He believed a lie.
C: He believed that he could put a ounce of whiskey in milk and drink it, and he wouldn't get in any trouble, because he would be drinking it on a full stomach. He believed something that isn't true. He went insane. Now, based upon-his insanity, let's see what his decisions and his actions were that followed that.
J: (p. 36,,) 'I ordered a whiskey and poured it into the milk. I vaguely sensed I was not being any too smart, but felt reassured as I was taking the whiskey on a full stomach.
C: Now he's got it inside of him. Now then, he's triggered the allergy, and the phenomenon of craving has developed. Let's see what happens next. (p. 36, par. 2-3; p. 37, par. 1-2) 'The experiment went so well that I ordered another whiskey and poured it into more milk. That didn't seem to bother me so I tried another."
'Thus started one more journey to the asylum for Jim. Here was the threat of commitment, the loss of family and position, to say nothing of that intense mental and physical suffering which drinking always caused him. He had much knowledge about himself as an alcoholic. Yet all reasons for not drinking were (top of p. 37) easily pushed
aside in favor of the foolish idea that he could take whiskey if only he mixed it with milk!'
'Whatever the precise definition of the word may be, we call this plain insanity. How can such a lack of proportion, of the ability to think straight, be called anything else?'
And here we have a real definition, clear definition, for insanity. Insanity is the lack of the proportion, of the ability to think straight. Specifically for us, in the alcoholic we're talking about, the alcoholic has a lack of proportion, of the ability to think straight about alcohol. That is our insanity. Not in any other area, but what we're talking about is the proportion, straight thinking about alcohol.
C: You see, Jim, the fact that he's allergic to alcohol is beside the point. His real problem is that he became insane. His mind told him it would be okay to drink it, if he mixed it with milk. Based upon that belief, based upon that lie, he made a decision. He ordered the whiskey, and he took the action necessary to drink it. That triggered the allergy, and then he got drunk. So, his problem is not the fact that he's allergic. His problem is that just before he drank it
he was absolutely insane. He believed a lie.
