I was talking to an old friend of mine the other day about an experience she had, when she was about 6 yrs. sober. She had just dropped her fiance off at the BWI airport and was about to leave, when she found herself in the airport bar. There had been no thought about this. It just happened. And there she was, stuck and fighting a drink. She said a short prayer and fought her way out and found a phone and made a phone call to member in AA. She didn’t drink. How fortunate she was.
Now, here’s the thing. She has had the same experience, as I have had, when relating this to others in a meeting. I was telling this story to a group the other night, as an illustration of the third step in action, and the people there reacted in with a ho hum attitude. I told her what the reaction was and she said it had often been the same with her. What is that?
On the other side of the coin, I have personally known others, who had the same experience as she did, who actually drank, not even knowing they were drinking and not even having thought of a drink before they drank. I remember one man, a partner in a firm, who on returning to his office one afternoon, walked in on a celebration of a business deal. One of the men in the office handed him a drink and he promptly drank it and was right back into alcoholic drinking again. This man had considerable time in the program at this point. I’ve known others just like that, who suddenly became aware that they were sitting in a bar and found that they had several drinks before they were concious of what they were doing.
My friend and I, who had a similar experience, were fortunate. Prayer and the program saved us. The others weren’t so fortunate. Then why the apathetic reaction from sober members who hear these stories?
I can only guess. One is that they have never had this experience and don’t think it’s possible. They don’t relate, because of that, plus they can’t conceive of the reality of these experiences. Perhaps they think that there has to be some crisis before they would drink. Maybe an explosive bout with rage and anger. Maybe they think that there has to be a plan, some thought process before the drink. Or maybe there’s some disbelief that this could ever happen to them.
The man, who wrote the little book, The Dry Drunk Syndrome, wrote another book, twenty years later entitled The Dry Drunk Syndrome Revisited. This second book was the result of his experience of drinking after all those years of sobriety. He too related the same thing. He too said he didn’t even know he was drinking until others called it to his attention.
Don’t we believe what Bill wrote in the BB? There may come a time in the life of the alcoholic, when he will have no mental defense against that first drink. It happened to both of us, but, like Bill said the only thing which could save us from that drink would be our relationship with a Higher Power. Prayer and the help of others. Something in each of us made us suddenly aware of our circumstance and the fight was on. The other poor souls were totally unaware.
But that’s not the point. The point is that unless we believe this could happen to us we may be caught unaware and the game might just be over before we have a chance to do anything about it. I’m not suggesting we have to walk around in fear or panic over this. The tenth step in the BB tells us that’s not the case. I was free of the thought of a drink before my situation. I’m free from that mental obsession today, as a result of the spiritual process of this program. But I am aware. Maybe that’s the difference in the reactions both she and I have witnessed. We related those stories, not just to illustrate the power of the third step, but to make others aware of the fact that there may come a time…
Anyway, I was thinking about this today.
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