More About Alcoholism and the Year He Stayed Busy in AA – Vince Y.

About This Speaker Tape

1965, Long Beach. A basement of a Presbyterian church filled with people who smell good and look tightly wrapped. Vince Y. sits against a concrete wall in a ripped t-shirt and filthy jeans, fresh out of the city jail. He is a Jesuit-educated intellectual convinced his case is different, watching "morons" have birthday parties with cakes and candles. He spends years "staying busy" in AA—scrubbing ashtrays and lifting chairs—while refusing the steps, only to find his alcoholism getting worse while he stayed active.

The wreckage mounts: a medical license lost to Demerol abuse in an East L.A. emergency room, a summer of supermarket-brand vodka, and a final blackout driving a stolen hearse the wrong way on the Pacific Coast Highway. He hits bottom in an $11-a-week room, failing as a drill press operator. He eventually surrenders to a "crazy" sponsor and a Higher Power, trading his judgment for a life that finally works.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Vince Y. welcomes newcomers and warns them about the 'distasteful' actions required for recovery.
• 3:45 Laughter: Recounting his first meeting in 1965 and the '20 questions' test used by old-timers.
• 7:12 Vince discusses the requirement for recovery: taking Steps 1 through 12 precisely as outlined.
• 11:30 The warning against 'staying busy' in AA without working the steps.
• 16:45 Family history: The loss of both parents at age 12 and living with a political boss uncle in Jersey City.
• 22:10 The 'crowning glory' of his ambulance driving career: the cul-de-sac blackout.
• 28:50 The descent into amphetamine and Demerol abuse while working as a PA in East L.A.
• 34:15 The rock bottom: stealing a mortician's hearse and waking up on the Pacific Coast Highway.
• 41:20 The 'unholy pact' with a sponsor and the requirement to surrender his own judgment.
• 48:10 Reflecting on his marriage and the support of Al-Anon during his recent battle with cancer.