That’s a List of My Finer Qualities — Anybody Want to Date? 🤣 – Wayne B.

About This Speaker Tape

Wayne B. shares his dramatic and often hilarious journey into sobriety at an AA international convention. Sober since November 1977 after five years of slipping while attending meetings, Wayne recounts how he found AA through Harvey, a restaurant owner in Moline, Illinois, who handed him a brass coin and sent him to a basement meeting on 16th Street. He describes arriving at a condemned building with a flickering light bulb, sliding headfirst into his first meeting after hitting a low doorframe, and being immediately claimed as a sponsee by an old-timer named Barney.

Wayne's years of drinking while attending meetings included disrupting groups so badly he was physically ejected, and ultimately pulling a .357 on his sponsor Barney during a meeting — an incident that landed him in his 17th psychiatric institution. The next morning, Barney visited him strapped to a bed and simply invited him back, saying if Wayne did what they did, he could recover too. When the group voted to remove Wayne, Barney cast the sole dissenting vote: "Who here would have him leave if I won't?" That unconditional love is what finally broke through.

The heart of Wayne's message centers on the Doctor's Opinion and the internal spiritual maladjustment that predisposes alcoholics to drink. He catalogs the symptoms with devastating honesty — restlessness, irritability, discontent, fear, self-delusion, emotional immaturity, and a defiant nature — then explains that fellowship is the "sufficient substitute" that relieves those symptoms. When he is with other alcoholics, he no longer feels different, and the obsession to drink is lifted.

Wayne closes by crediting the AA program, sponsorship, home group, and the steps for transforming him from an unlovable, institutionalized drunk into someone capable of loving and being loved. He introduces his partner Nora and urges newcomers to move from the outside of the circle into it.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Wayne introduces himself, thanks the committee, shares his love for AA and quotes Norm A. on actions speaking louder than words
• 6:00 Identifies as a slipper with 22 years 7 months sober, discusses daily reprieve contingent on spiritual condition
• 10:00 Hilarious bit about loving Budweiser, licking the TV screen during commercials, weeping at Clydesdales parades
• 14:00 Larry's Oasis bar story — illustrates the abnormal reaction to alcohol and inability to drink normally
• 17:00 Defends the Doctor's Opinion against moderation management, discusses entire abstinence with sponsor over O'Doul's
• 22:00 Disease of perception story — critiquing a speaker at the Mustard Seed Group and what Barney actually said vs. what Wayne heard
• 28:00 Harvey and the brass coin — finding AA through a restaurant owner in Moline, the flickering light bulb at 416 16th Street
• 35:00 Sliding into first meeting, Barney becomes his sponsor, five years of drinking while attending meetings
• 40:00 Pulling the .357 on Barney, 17th psych ward stay, Barney visits and invites him back without judgment
• 48:00 Detailed breakdown of the ism — symptoms of alcoholism including restlessness, irritability, fear, emotional immaturity, and defiance; fellowship as the sufficient substitute